Knowing that there are 20 different possible amino acids that can be used at each position in a polypeptide, calculate the number of different polypeptides that could theoretically be produced for a protein that is 180 amino acids in length
Do you expect to find all of these possible protein sequences produced in living systems? Explain your answer.
There are 20180 possible sequences for a 180 amino acid polypeptide (20 different possible amino acids for each position). No, we would not expect all of the theoretically possible proteins to be made. A much smaller subset can be expected in living systems because it is not likely that all sequences would lead to a stably folded protein. Natural selection favors the retention of genes that encode proteins with stable conformations.
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