Anticodon
An anticodon is a trinucleotide sequence in transfer RNA (tRNA) that recognizes a complementary codon in messenger RNA (mRNA) during protein synthesis. It is located in the anticodon loop of the tRNA and is read in the 3' to 5' direction, pairing with the mRNA codon read 5' to 3'. During translation, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases charge tRNAs with their cognate amino acids by recognizing identity elements that include the anticodon as well as other structural features. Once charged, the tRNA delivers its amino acid to the ribosome's A site, where the anticodon pairs with the corresponding codon, ensuring the correct incorporation of the amino acid into the growing polypeptide chain.
The correspondence between codons and amino acids is defined by the genetic code; because the code is
Anticodons are an intrinsic part of tRNA structure and are encoded by tRNA genes. In translation, accurate