Question

What is true about tRNA?

• A. It binds with an amino acid at its 3' end
• B. It has a codon loop
• C. It has a codon at one end which recognises the anticodon on messenger RNA
• D. It looks like clover leaf shaped in a three dimensional structure

Answer 1

The correct option is A It binds with an amino acid at its 3' end

Transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) is a type of RNA molecule that brings the free amino acids in the cytoplasm to the site of protein synthesis.

tRNAs have about 73 to 93 nucleotides that fold into four base-paired stems and three loops.
- They have an anticodon loop that has bases complementary to the codon in mRNA.
- They also have an amino acid acceptor end by which they bind with the corresponding amino acid at their 3’ end. They thus serve to transfer amino acids from the cytoplasm to the ribosomes during the process of translation.
- The secondary structure of tRNA looks like a clover -leaf. In actual structure (three dimensional), the tRNA is a compact molecule which looks like an inverted ‘L’.
Therefore option a is correct while options b, c and d are incorrect.