In principle, what would be the minimum number of consecutive nucleotides necessary to correspond to a single amino acid to produce a workable genetic code (it can specifically code for all 20 amino acids)? Assume that each amino acid is encoded by
the same number of nucleotides. Explain your reasoning.
Because there are 20 amino acids used in proteins, each amino acid would have to be encoded by a minimum of three nucleotides. For example, a code of two consecutive nucleotides could specify a maximum of 16 (42) different amino acids, excluding stop and start signals. A code of three consecutive nucleotides has 64 (43) different members and thus can easily accommodate the 20 amino acids plus a signal to stop protein synthesis.
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