Richard L Grantham, Université Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
Published online: December 2007
DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0001806.pub2
In protein synthesis, succeeding amino acids are indicated by a sequence of codons in the gene. A given amino acid may be represented by up to six codons, making a choice between synonymous codons possible; this permits the creation of an evolutionary pattern of codon usages.
Keywords: codon bias; %G+C; GC3S; intron; exon; mRNA; tRNA; mtDNA
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Figure 1. Degenerate structure of the genetic code. Codons are read vertically. Each of the four rows represents a different level of degeneracy (number of codons per amino acid). The 61 amino acid codons are grouped in 20 sets of 1–6 synonymous members. Each six-membered set (sextet) is composed of a quartet and a duet. Thus the code includes eight quartets and 12 duets, the isoleucine trio and the single codons of methionine and tryptophan, plus the three terminators. With quartet codons, changing the third base cannot affect the amino acid coded.
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| Semon M, Lobry JR and Duret L (2006) No evidence for tissue-specific adaptation of synonymous codon usage in humans. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23: 523–529. | |
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