Answer:
246 amino bases
Explanation:
An amino acid is coded by three bases. However, in a DNA molecule, there is coding that takes place. In DNA replication, the start and stop codons are not expressed during the formation of the double helix. Hence, an extra amino acid will be needed. In fact, this can be expressed mathematically like this:
[tex]Number of bases = (n+1) * 3[/tex]
where n is the number of amino acid residues. Therefore, taking 81 amino acid residues yields:
N = [tex](81+ 1) * 3\\246[/tex]
Therefore, the least number of bases needed will be 246
