Assuming 20 common amino acids and 20 different monosaccharide subunits that are available for construction of polypeptides and oligosaccharides, respectively, compare the possible variations of these macromolecules using a hypothetical hexameric oligomer.

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The hypothetical hexameric oligomer consists of 6 subunits, which means there are 6 possible positions where either an amino acid or a monosaccharide can be added. For polypeptides, there are 20 choices of amino acids for each of the 6 positions, resulting in a total of 20^6 = 15,625,000 possible variations. For oligosaccharides, there are 20 choices of monosaccharides for the first position, 20 choices for the second position, and so on, resulting in 20^6 = 64,000,000 possible variations. Therefore, the number of possible variations for oligosaccharides is orders of magnitude greater than for polypeptides. Choice C is the best answer.

Assuming 20 Common Amino Acids and 20 Different Monosaccharide Subunits