Related papers: Genes Preferring Non-AUG Start Codons in Bacteria
The genetic code is nearly universal, and the arrangement of the codons in the standard codon table is highly non-random. The three main concepts on origin and evolution of the code are the stereochemical theory; the coevolution theory; and…
We prove that nested canalizing functions are the minimum-sensitivity Boolean functions for any activity ratio and we determine the functional form of this boundary which has a nontrivial fractal structure. We further observe that the…
Imposing a minimum principle in the framework of the so called crystal basis model of the genetic code, we determine the structure of the minimum set of 22 anticodons which allows the translational-transcription for animal mitochondrial…
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…
Motivation: Gene blocks are genes co-located on the chromosome. In many cases, genes blocks are conserved between bacterial species, sometimes as operons, when genes are co-transcribed. The conservation is rarely absolute: gene loss, gain,…
With the increasing amount of experimental data on gene expression and regulation, there is a growing need for quantitative models to describe the data and relate them to the different contexts. The thermodynamic models reviewed in the…
Data on the number of Open Reading Frames (ORFs) coded by genomes from the 3 domains of Life show some notable general features including essential differences between the Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes, with the number of ORFs growing linearly…
The transcriptional regulation of gene expression is orchestrated by complex networks of interacting genes. Increasing evidence indicates that these transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) in bacteria have an inherently hierarchical…
The unconstrained genomic DNA of bacteria forms a coil, which volume exceeds 1000 times the volume of the cell. Since prokaryotes lack a membrane-bound nucleus, in sharp contrast with eukaryotes, the DNA may consequently be expected to…
Natively unfolded proteins exist as an ensemble of flexible conformations lacking a well defined tertiary structure along a large portion of their polypeptide chain. Despite the absence of a stable configuration, they are involved in…
Transcription regulation is largely governed by the profile and the dynamics of transcription factors' binding to DNA. Stochastic effects are intrinsic to this dynamics and the binding to functional sites must be controled with a certain…
Many modified genetic codes are found in specific genomes in which one or more codons have been reassigned to a different amino acid from that in the canonical code. We present a model that unifies four possible mechanisms for reassignment,…
A thin-walled tube, e.g., a drinking straw, manifests an instability when bent by localizing the curvature change in a small region. This instability has been extensively studied since the seminal work of Brazier nearly a century ago.…
Gene expression is a stochastic process governed by the presence of specific transcription factors. Here we study the dynamics of gene expression in the presence of feedback, where a gene regulates its own expression. The nonlinear coupling…
Central to the functioning of a living cell is its ability to control the readout or expression of information encoded in the genome. In many cases, a single transcription factor protein activates or represses the expression of many genes.…
The standard genetic code is known to be robust to translation errors and point mutations. We studied how small modifications of the standard code affect its robustness. The robustness was assessed in terms of a proper stability function,…
When treated with antibiotics below the minimum inhibitory concentration, bacterial cell division turns off, but cell growth does not. Thus, rod-like bacteria, including E. coli, can elongate many times their length without increasing their…
Advances in DNA sequencing have revolutionized our ability to read genomes. However, even in the most well-studied of organisms, the bacterium ${\it Escherichia coli}$, for $\approx$ 65$\%$ of the promoters we remain completely ignorant of…
Rod-shaped bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, commonly live forming mounded colonies. They initially grow two-dimensionally on a surface and finally achieve three-dimensional growth. While it was recently reported that three-dimensional…
The development of a large non-coding fraction in eukaryotic DNA and the phenomenon of the code-bloat in the field of evolutionary computations show a striking similarity. This seems to suggest that (in the presence of mechanisms of code…