Q. 17.117 - An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

Question

Oxytocin is a peptide that contains nine amino acids. How many nucleotides would be found in the mRNA for this peptide?$(17.5)$

Step-by-Step Solution

Answer

$3$ nucleotides would be found in the mRNA for this peptide.

Step 1:Given information

We have to find out the how many nucleotides would be found in the mRNA for this peptide. 

Step 2:Explanation

We know that Oxytocin is a peptide that contains nine amino acids,

Each amino acid requires three nucleotides, as well as a start and stop codon with three nucleotides each. Three nucleotides are needed to code for each amino acid, plus the start and stop codons consisting of three nucleotides each, which makes a minimum total of $33$ nucleotides.