An anticodon is a trinucleotide sequence localized in the transport RNA (tRNA) that binds via complementary base pairing to the codon in the messenger RNA (mRNA) during protein synthesis (translation). Thus, the tRNA anticodon binds with its complementary three-letter mRNA codon during translation in order to add a specific amino acid to the growing protein. Generally, the anticodon sequence positions 34–36-nt of the tRNA that reads its cognate mRNA codon sequence via Watson–Crick base pairing.
