Ribonucleic acid anticodon

Cellular protein biosynthesis involves the following steps. One strand of double-stranded DNA serves as a template strand for the synthesis of a complementary single-stranded messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in a process called transcription. This mRNA in turn serves as a template to direct the synthesis of the protein in a process called translation. The codons of the mRNA are read sequentially by transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules, which bind specifically to the mRNA via triplets of nucleotides that are complementary to the particular codon, called an anticodon. Protein synthesis occurs on a ribosome, a complex consisting of more than 50 different proteins and several stmctural RNA molecules, which moves along the mRNA and mediates the binding of the tRNA molecules and the formation of the nascent peptide chain. The tRNA molecule carries an activated form of the specific amino acid to the ribosome where it is added to the end of the growing peptide chain. There is at least one tRNA for each amino acid. 

The ribosome is the enzyme that catalyzes peptide bond formation. The bacterial ribosome is a large 2500 kDa ribonucleic acid/protein complex comprised of a large subunit (LSU or SOS subunit) and a small subunit (SSU or 30S subunit) (Fig. 4.1). The small ribosomal subunit binds to messenger RNA (mRNA) and reads the genetic code by aligning its base triplet codons with anticodons of transfer RNA molecules (tRNA). The large ribosomal subunit binds to opposite ends of tRNA molecules and catalyzes peptide bond formation. 

Many eucaryotic phenylalanine transfer ribonucleic acids (tRNA ) contain fluorescent components at the position adjacent to the 3 -end of an anticodon. A few related hypermodified nucleosides 1 have been isolated, their structure has been elucidated, and their chemical synthesis been performed. 

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