Question

Choose the correct answer from the alternatives given
The phenomenon known as wobble refers to
a. The movement of multiple ribosomes along the same mRNA
b. The shifting of reading frame in a deletion or insertion mutation
c. The ability of a tRNA to pair with different codons that may differ in the third base
d. The movement of a tRNA from the A to the P site

Answer 1

Watson and Crick gave a model of the pairing of base pairs whereas the wobble effect states that the 3rd base needs to go for pairing with the respective base following the Watson and Crick model. This was mainly associated with the tRNA.

Complete answer:
According to the theory of Watson and Crick, they told that amongst the four base sugars which are Adenine, Guanine, Thymine and the Cytosine all of them are destined to pair with each other’s alternative. The Adenine was known to form pairing with the Thymine and the Cytosine was known to form pairing with the Guanine. The pairing is done by the formation of the hydrogen bonds between the sugars.

This Wobble hypothesis was given by Francis Crick. We all know that one amino acid can be coded by many different codons depending upon the tRNA attached to them. Now this coding of a single amino acid is explained with the help of the Wobble hypothesis. It states that the one tRNA molecule have the tendency to attach with more than one codon because the precise base pairing had already occurred with the first base of the codon with the second base and the interaction between the first and the third will be less that is why a tRNA molecule can join easily.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: The term wobble specifically refers to the inappropriate pairing of the tRNA at the 5’ end of the anticodon with the base present at the 3’ end of the codon. The wobble hypothesis also tells that the codons which are coding for the same amino acids have a difference of the last base which is attached at 5’ end.