Related papers: Genome landscapes and bacteriophage codon usage
While confirming the long held view that viruses do not closely imitate the use of their host's codon catalogue, Esposito and coworkers nevertheless consider it surprising that, despite having the ability to infect the same host, many…
We study the correlation between the codon usage bias of genetic sequences and the network features of protein-protein interaction (PPI) in bacterial species. We use PCA techniques in the space of codon bias indices to show that genes with…
Here we investigate translational regulation in bacteria by analyzing the distribution of start codons in fully assembled genomes. We report 36 genes (infC, rpoC, rnpA, etc.) showing a preference for non-AUG start codons in evolutionarily…
Synonymous codons, i.e., DNA nucleotide triplets coding for the same amino acid, are used differently across the variety of living organisms. The biological meaning of this phenomenon, known as codon usage bias, is still controversial. In…
In special coordinates (codon position--specific nucleotide frequencies) bacterial genomes form two straight lines in 9-dimensional space: one line for eubacterial genomes, another for archaeal genomes. All the 348 distinct bacterial…
Essential genes constitute the core of genes which cannot be mutated too much nor lost along the evolutionary history of a species. Natural selection is expected to be stricter on essential genes and on conserved (highly shared) genes, than…
Background: There is a 3-fold redundancy in the Genetic Code; most amino acids are encoded by more than one codon. These synonymous codons are not used equally; there is a Codon Usage Bias (CUB). This article will provide novel information…
Most amino acids are encoded by multiple synonymous codons. For an amino acid, some of its synonymous codons are used much more rarely than others. Analyses of positions of such rare codons in protein sequences revealed that rare codons can…
We present a statistical model of bacterial evolution based on the coupling between codon usage and tRNA abundance. Such a model interprets this aspect of the evolutionary process as a balance between the codon homogenization effect due to…
Recent experiments and simulations have demonstrated that proteins can fold on the ribosome. However, the extent and generality of fitness effects resulting from co-translational folding remain open questions. Here we report a genome-wide…
All cells respond to changes in both their internal milieu and the environment around them through the regulation of their genes. Despite decades of effort, there remain huge gaps in our knowledge of both the function of many genes (the…
We analyse forty seven chloroplastid genes of the large subunit of RuBisCO, from the Algal order Ectocarpales, sourced from GenBank. Codon-usage weighted by the nucleotide base bias defines our score called the Codon-Impact-Parameter. This…
Unraveling the evolutionary forces shaping bacterial diversity can today be tackled using a growing amount of genomic data. While the genome of eukaryotes is highly stable, bacterial genomes from cells of the same species highly vary in…
Rich information on the prebiotic evolution is still stored in contemporary genomic data. The statistical mechanism at the sequence level may play a significant role in the prebiotic evolution. Based on statistical analysis of genome…
Selection pressures on proteins are usually measured by comparing homologous nucleotide sequences (Zuckerkandl and Pauling 1965). Recently we introduced a novel method, termed `volatility', to estimate selection pressures on protein…
The phenotype of any organism on earth is, in large part, the consequence of interplay between numerous gene products encoded in the genome, and such interplay between gene products affects the evolutionary fate of the genome itself through…
Even closely related prokaryotes show an astounding diversity in their ability to grow in different nutritional environments. Mechanistically, this diversity arises predominantly through horizontal gene transfer, the exchange of DNA between…
The tendencies described in this work were revealed in the course of examination of adenine and uracil distribution in the mRNA encoding sequence. The study also discusses the usage of codons occupied by the amino acid arginine in the table…
Messenger RNA encodes a sequence of amino acids by using codons. For most amino acids there are multiple synonymous codons that can encode the amino acid. The translation speed can vary from one codon to another, thus there is room for…
Background Synonymous codon choice is mainly affected by mutation and selection. For the majority of genes within a genome, mutational pressure is the major driving force, but selective strength can be strong and dominant for specific set…