How many base pairs in the gene are needed to code for the enzyme lysozyme, containing `129` amino acids, found in egg white?

Options

A. `3xx129`
B. `(3xx129)+(3xx2)=393` base pairs
C. `(3xx129)+(3xx3)=396` base pairs
D. `4xx129`

Explanation

To determine how many base pairs in the gene are needed to code for the enzyme lysozyme, which contains 129 amino acids, we can follow these steps:

**Step 1: Understand the coding relationship between amino acids and base pairs.**
- Each amino acid is coded by a sequence of three nucleotide bases (triplet codon).

**Step 2: Calculate the number of base pairs needed for the amino acids.**
- Since there are 129 amino acids, the number of base pairs required for these amino acids is:
\[ \text{Base pairs for amino acids} = 129 \text{ amino acids} \times 3 \text{ base pairs/amino acid} = 387 \text{ base pairs} \]

**Step 3: Account for the start and stop codons.**
- In addition to the base pairs coding for the amino acids, we need to include one start codon and one stop codon. Each of these is also a triplet, so we need to add 2 more triplets (or 6 base pairs) to our total.
\[ \text{Base pairs for start and stop codons} = 2 \text{ codons} \times 3 \text{ base pairs/codon} = 6 \text{ base pairs} \]

**Step 4: Calculate the total number of base pairs needed.**
- Now, we can add the base pairs needed for the amino acids and the base pairs for the start and stop codons:
\[ \text{Total base pairs} = 387 \text{ base pairs} + 6 \text{ base pairs} = 393 \text{ base pairs} \]

**Final Answer:**
- Therefore, the total number of base pairs in the gene needed to code for the enzyme lysozyme is **393 base pairs**.

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