Anticodon

Pronunciation
/an-tee-koh-don/
Category
Molecular Biology
Singular
Anticodon
Plural
Anticodons

Definition

A triplet of nucleotides in a transfer RNA molecule that is complementary to and base pairs with a codon in a messenger RNA.

Etymology

From Greek 'anti-', meaning 'opposite', and 'codon' derived from 'code'.

Example

The anticodon of a tRNA molecule carries the amino acid to the ribosome, where it is incorporated into a protein based on the mRNA codon.

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