Question

uppose that a scientist performed an mRNA mixed copolymer experiment to decode the nonstandard genetic code of a recently discovered species of archaea. The mixture used to synthesize the mRNA contained four parts uracil (U) and one part cytosine (C) nucleotides. The polypeptide translated from this mRNA contained only phenylalanine, serine, leucine, and proline. From previous experiments, the scientist already knew that the organism's genetic code is a triplet code, like the genetic code of humans. Furthermore, the scientist knew that all codons starting with UU code for phenylalanine, UC code for serine, CC code for proline, and CU code for leucine. Using this information, calculate the percentage of amino acids in the polypeptide expected to be composed of serine.

Answer 1

Answer: The percentage of serine in the hypothetical polypetide is 16%.

Explanation: Given the proportions of uracil and cytosine nucleotides 4/5 U and 1/5 C. According to probabilities, specifically permutation. We can multiply the proportions to get the probabilities of obtaining the codons. In this case for UC equivalent to serine, would be 4/5 * 1/5= 4/25 this is the same as 16% .