Carbon source-dependent expansion of the genetic code in bacteria

Laure Prat1, Ilka U Heinemann, Hans R Aerni

  • 1Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Systems Biology Institute, and Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.

Summary

Acetohalobium arabaticum dynamically expands its genetic code to 21 amino acids, including pyrrolysine (Pyl), in the presence of trimethylamine (TMA). This archaeon uniquely modulates its genetic code size based on environmental cues and energy sources.

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