Related papers: Optimality of the genetic code with respect to pro…
The standard genetic code is known to be much more efficient in minimizing adverse effects of misreading errors and one-point mutations in comparison with a random code having the same structure, i.e. the same number of codons coding for…
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,…
The origin and organizing principles of the genetic code remain fundamental puzzles in life science. The vanishingly low probability of the natural codon-to-amino acid mapping arising by chance has spurred the hypothesis that its structure…
The genetic code has a high level of error robustness. Using values of hydrophobicity scales as a proxy for amino acid character, and the Mean Square measure as a function quantifying error robustness, a value can be obtained for a genetic…
We investigated the error-minimization properties of putative primordial codes that consisted of 16 supercodons, with the third base being completely redundant, using a previously derived cost function and the error minimization percentage…
The genetic code is the function from the set of codons to the set of amino acids by which a DNA sequence encodes proteins. Since the codons also influence the shape of the DNA molecule itself, the same sequence that encodes a protein also…
A quantitative theory on the construction and the evolution of the genetic code is proposed. Through introducing the concept of mutational deterioration (MD) and developing a theoretical formalism on MD minimization we have proved: 1, the…
The genetic code has been shown to be very error robust compared to randomly selected codes, but to be significantly less error robust than a certain code found by a heuristic algorithm. We formulate this optimisation problem as a Quadratic…
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…
The genetic code markup is the assignment of stop codons. The standard genetic code markup ensures the maximum possible stability of genetic information with respect to two fault classes: frameshift and nonsense mutations. There are only…
The universal genetic code presents a fundamental paradox in molecular biology. Recent advances in synthetic biology have demonstrated that the code is remarkably flexible--organisms can survive with 61 codons instead of 64, natural…
The rules that specify how the information contained in DNA codes amino acids, is called "the genetic code". Using a simplified version of the Penna nodel, we are using computer simulations to investigate the importance of the genetic code…
Background The theoretical requirements for a genetic code were well defined and modeled by George Gamow and Francis Crick in the 50-es. Their models failed. However the valid Genetic Code, provided by Nirenberg and Matthaei in 1961,…
The genetic code refers to a rule that maps 64 codons to 20 amino acids. Nearly all organisms, with few exceptions, share the same genetic code, the standard genetic code (SGC). While it remains unclear why this universal code has arisen…
The frequencies of A, C, G and T in mitochondrial DNA vary among species due to unequal rates of mutation between the bases. The frequencies of bases at four-fold degenerate sites respond directly to mutation pressure. At 1st and 2nd…
The genetic code maps the sixty-four nucleotide triplets (codons) to twenty amino-acids. Some argue that the specific form of the code with its twenty amino-acids might be a 'frozen accident' because of the overwhelming effects of any…
Several technological applications require the translation of a protein into a nucleic acid that codes for it (``backtranslation''). The degeneracy of the genetic code makes this translation ambiguous; moreover, not every translation is…
Why is the genetic code the way it is? The most successful theory states that the codon assignments minimise the effects of errors arising in primordial living systems. Here a transversion is reported that leaves invariant degeneracy in the…
We have presented the basic knowledge on the structure of molecules coding the genetic information, mechanisms of transfer of this information from DNA to proteins and phenomena connected with replication of DNA. In particular, we have…
Although several synonymous codons can encode the same aminoacid, this symmetry is generally broken in natural genetic systems. In this article, we show that the symmetry breaking can result from selective pressures due to the violation of…