A prokaryote gene of 600 nucleotides long can code for a polypeptide chain of about, how many amino acids ?

Options

A. 100
B. 200
C. 300
D. 600

Answer

To determine how many amino acids a prokaryote gene of 600 nucleotides can code for, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understand the Genetic Code**: Each amino acid in a polypeptide is encoded by a sequence of three nucleotides, known as a codon. This means that for every three nucleotides, one amino acid is produced.

2. **Calculate the Number of Codons**: Given that the gene is 600 nucleotides long, we can calculate the number of codons by dividing the total number of nucleotides by the number of nucleotides per codon:
\[ \text{Number of codons} = \frac{\text{Total nucleotides}}{\text{Nucleotides per codon}} = \frac{600}{3} \]

3. **Perform the Division**:
\[ \frac{600}{3} = 200 \]
This means that the gene can code for 200 codons.

4. **Conclusion**: Since each codon corresponds to one amino acid, the prokaryote gene of 600 nucleotides can code for a polypeptide chain of approximately 200 amino acids.

### Final Answer:
The prokaryote gene of 600 nucleotides long can code for about **200 amino acids**.

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