Related Experiment Videos
Codon reassignment and the evolving genetic code: problems and pitfalls in post-genome analysis
J M O'Sullivan1, J B Davenport, M F Tuite
1Dept of Biosciences, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NJ, UK.
Trends in Genetics : TIG
|February 13, 2001
Abstract:
The in silico translation of open reading frames, using the 'universal genetic code', must be approached with caution. The uncovering of a number of codon reassignments in nuclear and organellar genomes highlights the importance of experimentally confirming the assignments of all 64 codons for the species whose genome is under investigation. Such alterations to codon meaning also suggest that the genetic code is not 'frozen' and continues to evolve.