Question

3. Refer to the wobble rules for tRNA–mRNA pairing I presented in class (also see your textbook). If we assume that the tRNAs contain no modified bases (e.g., inosine), what is the minimum number of tRNAs that are needed to efficiently recognize the codons for the following amino acids? Please provide the anticodon sequence (& polarity) for each of the tRNAs.

   a) Arginine b) Serine c) Proline d) Tyrosine

Answer 1

a) For Arginine- 2 codons (AGA, AGG)

anticodons UCU, UCC

b) For Serine- 6 codons (UCU, UCC, UCG, UCA, AGU, AGC)

anticodons- AGA, AGG, AGC, AGU, UCA, UCG)

c) For proline-4 codons (CCU, CCC, CCA, CCG)

anticodons- GGA, GGG, GGU, GGC

d) For Tyrosine- 2 codons (UAU, UAC)

anticodons- AUA, AUG