Please use the following information to answer the question(s) below.
The enzyme polynucleotide phosphorylase randomly assembles nucleotides into a polynucleotide polymer.
-You add polynucleotide phosphorylase to a solution of adenosine triphosphate and guanosine triphosphate. How many artificial mRNA three-nucleotide codons would be possible?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

With a mix of ATP and GTP, there would be 4 possible nucleotides to add to the polynucleotide chain (A, G, AP, GP). With three nucleotides per codon, that gives 4x4x4= 64 possible codons. However, since this is an artificial mRNA and not subject to the usual rules of translation, there would be redundancy (i.e. multiple codons could code for the same amino acid). There are 2 codons for ATP (AAA, AAG) and 4 codons for GTP (GAA, GAG, GGA, GGG), for a total of 2x4x4= 32 non-redundant codons. However, since the polynucleotide phosphorylase assembles nucleotides randomly, some of these codons may never be generated. Therefore, the number of possible codons is likely less than 32, but the only answer option close to this range is C (8).

Please Use the Following Information to Answer the Question(s) Below