[Campbell Biology P.398] The wobble hypothesis describes the flexible base pairing between t... | Practice Question

The wobble hypothesis describes the flexible base pairing between the third nucleotide base of a codon and the corresponding base of a tRNA anticodon. What is the primary implication of this phenomenon?

  • A: It allows a single tRNA to bind to multiple amino acids.
  • B: It reduces the total number of unique tRNA molecules required for translation.
  • C: It increases the specificity of codon-anticodon recognition.
  • D: It ensures that each mRNA codon has a unique tRNA dedicated to it.

Explanation

The wobble hypothesis explains why there are fewer tRNAs than the theoretical number of codons 61 sense codons . Due to relaxed base pairing rules at the third position of the codon and the first position of the anticodon, a single tRNA can recognize multiple synonymous codons, thus reducing the total number of distinct tRNA molecules required for protein synthesis.