What is "one gene-one polypeptide"?

Question

What is "one gene-one polypeptide"?

Answer 1

A generally accepted hypothesis, first developed by George Beadle and Edward Tatum based upon the original work of Archibald Garrod.

A single gene (DNA sequence or linear portion of a chromosome) is the blueprint for one and only one polypeptide (sequence of amino acids).

Modification or mutation of the gene will typically lead to a modification of the structure of the polypeptide.  This can lead to a change in enzymatic activity or the inability to assemble proteins used in cell structure depending upon the polypeptide changed.

Although this seems very logical and might very well be the case, there seems to be small details that are usually left out, including the fact that mRNA is an intermediary in the polypeptide synthesis and it take at lease 3 nucleotides to encode each amino acid.  There is also a problem where multiple genes control the synthesis of a single protein.

Answer 2

Each gene has its own, unique, molecular chain of amino acids, which expresses itself!