Question
Question: Write the difference between codon and anticodon....
Write the difference between codon and anticodon.
Solution
Both codon and anticodon are vital for decoding the genetic information in DNA to proteins. The difference lies in the sequence of their role in this process along with their location/presence on different types of RNA.
Complete answer:
Difference between codon and anticodon:
| Property | Codon | Anticodon |
|---|---|---|
| Location | It is located on the mRNA molecule. | It is located on the tRNA molecule. |
| Complementarity | It is complementary to triplet nucleotides of DNA. | It is complementary to the triplet codon on mRNA |
| Link | A codon is a link between the genetic information embedded in the DNA to mRNA | Anticodon is the link between the nucleotide sequence on mRNA to the amino acid sequence on the final product i.e. polypeptide or the protein. |
| Function | The function of a codon is to dictate the sequence of amino acids of the protein. | The function of the anticodon is to correctly read the codons and impart the correct amino acid to the growing polypeptide. |
Additional Information:
The genetic code is a triplet code called a codon. The following are some features of genetic code:
-The information resides in the DNA to specify the amino acid sequence of a protein. This information is in the form of 4 nucleotides i.e Adenine(A), Guanine(G), Thymine(T), Cytosine(C). A codon of 3 nucleotides results in 64 combinations of triplet code. In our body, the code for 20 different amino acids.
-Certain codons bear the signals for initiation or termination of translation( the process of formation of polypeptides from mRNA). Like AUG is a start codon while UAA, UAG, UGA are stop codons. No amino acid is coded by stop codons.
-The code is unambiguous, which means that a triplet codon can determine only one amino acid at a time. For e.g, CUU will only code for leucine in any condition.
-The code is degenerate, which means that a particular amino acid can be coded by many different codons. These distinctive codons are stated to be synonymous. E.g. Histidine is an amino acid that can be coded by both CAU and CAC. So, CAU and CAC are said to be synonymous with each other.
-There are no commas or breaks between the code of a protein. This means once the protein-building machinery has started the production of proteins, they are read or decoded one after the other without any breaks until a stop codon marks the end of this process.
Note: Base pairing in RNA is a little different than in DNA. The difference lies in the presence of Uracil in RNA in place of Thymine. Adenine base pairs with thymine in DNA. But in the process of transcription where a particular gene’s sequence in DNA is copied in mRNA, complementary base pairing between adenine and uracil is observed.