Which of the following statements regarding the structure of tRNA is c...
The correct answer is Option A - Both Statement I and Statement II are correct
Statement I is correct: the two-dimensional secondary structure of a tRNA is conventionally drawn as a clover-leaf, consisting of the acceptor stem, the D-arm (with the D-loop), the anticodon arm (with the anticodon loop), the variable loop, and the TψC arm (with the TψC loop); the stems are formed by complementary base pairing.
Key molecular features in this representation include the conserved 3'-terminal CCA sequence on the acceptor stem, which is the site of amino-acid attachment, and several modified bases (for example, pseudouridine and dihydrouridine) that occur in specific loops.
Statement II is correct: the actual three-dimensional conformation of tRNA is an inverted L-shaped tertiary structure produced by folding and long-range interactions (notably between the D-loop and the TψC loop); this 3D fold places the anticodon at one end and the amino-acid attachment site (3'-CCA) at the opposite end, allowing proper interaction with both mRNA codon and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases/ribosome during translation.
In summary, the clover-leaf is the correct description of tRNA secondary structure and the inverted L-shaped form is the correct description of its tertiary structure; therefore both statements are true.