Related papers: The Mechanisms of Codon Reassignments in Mitochond…
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,…
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…
Important aspects of the process of information storage and retrieval in DNA and RNA, and its evolution, are the role of the anticodons and associated $t$RNA's, and correlations between anticodons and amino acids; the degeneracy of the…
Using the shape space of codons and tRNAs we give a physical description of the genetic code evolution on the basis of the codon capture and ambiguous intermediate scenarios in a consistent manner. In the lowest dimensional version of our…
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…
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…
Animal mitochondrial genomes usually have two transfer RNAs for Leucine: one, with anticodon UAG, translates the four-codon family CUN, whilst the other, with anticodon UAA, translates the two-codon family UUR. These two genes must differ…
RNA editing can be crucial for the expression of genetic information via inserting, deleting, or substituting a few nucleotides at specific positions in an RNA sequence. Within coding regions in an RNA sequence, editing usually occurs with…
During the course of evolution, an organism's genome can undergo changes that affect the large-scale structure of the genome. These changes include gene gain, loss, duplication, chromosome fusion, fission, and rearrangement. When gene gain…
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…
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…
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…
The birth of new genes is an important motor of evolutionary innovation. Whereas many new genes arise by gene duplication, others originate at genomic regions that do not contain any gene or gene copy. Some of these newly expressed genes…
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…
We address the question, related with the origin of the genetic code, of why are there three bases per codon in the translation to protein process. As a followup to our previous work, we approach this problem by considering the…
How robust is the natural genetic code with respect to mistranslation errors? It has long been known that the genetic code is very efficient in limiting the effect of point mutation. A misread codon will commonly code either for the same…
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…
The post-genomic era has brought opportunities to bridge traditionally separate fields of early history of life and brought new insight into origin and evolution of biodiversity. According to distributions of codons in genome sequences, I…
The genetic code maps the sixty-four nucleotide triplets (codons) to twenty amino-acids. While the biochemical details of this code were unraveled long ago, its origin is still obscure. We review information-theoretic approaches to the…
Degeneracy is a salient feature of genetic codes, because there are more codons than amino acids. The conventional table for genetic codes suffers from an inability of illustrating a symmetrical nature among genetic base codes. In fact,…