Question

Which of the following is not a true statement regarding the genetic code?

Answer 1

Answer:

E. Each codon represents a different amino acid.

Explanation:

The genetic code refers to the set of rules guiding the translation of nucleotide bases in DNA or RNA into an amino acid sequence (proteins). The genetic code contains all the codons in the genome, which is a group of three nucleotide base (triplet-based). Each codon species a particular amino acid, however, more than one codon can code for a particular amino acid. This characteristics of the genetic code is called DEGENERACY.

The genetic code is said to be nearly universal because the same codon encodes the same amino acid in almost all living organisms with only few exceptions. The nonoverlapping nature of the genetic code refers to the fact the three bases of a codon are read independently from the bases of another codon i.e. codons do not overlap.

A codon represents one amino acid but more than one codon can represent the same amino acid. Hence, option E is untrue