Search results for "codon usage"

Evolutionary Changes after Translational Challenges Imposed by Horizontal Gene Transfer

2019

International audience; Genes acquired by horizontal gene transfer (HGT) may provide the recipient organism with potentially new functions, but proper expression level and integration of the transferred genes in the novel environment are not granted. Notably, transferred genes can differ from the receiving genome in codon usage preferences, leading to impaired translation and reduced functionality. Here, we characterize the genomic and proteomic changes undergone during experimental evolution of Escherichia coli after HGT of three synonymous versions, presenting very different codon usage preference, of an antibiotic resistance gene. The experimental evolution was conducted with and without…

2018

Amino acid usage in a proteome depends mostly on its taxonomy, as it does the codon usage in transcriptomes. Here, we explore the level of variation in the codon usage of a specific amino acid, glutamine, in relation to the number of consecutive glutamine residues. We show that CAG triplets are consistently more abundant in short glutamine homorepeats (polyQ, four to eight residues) than in shorter glutamine stretches (one to three residues), leading to the evolutionary growth of the repeat region in a CAG-dependent manner. The length of orthologous polyQ regions is mostly stable in primates, particularly the short ones. Interestingly, given a short polyQ the CAG usage is higher in unstable…

Mistranslation Drives Alterations in Protein Levels and the Effects of a Synonymous Variant at the Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Locus.

2021

This article also appears in: Health, Medical, and Life Sciences Virtual Issue for Advanced Science.

Comparative Molecular Evolution of Primary (Buchnera) and Secondary Symbionts of Aphids Based on Two Protein-Coding Genes

2001

A+T content, phylogenetic relationships, codon usage, evolutionary rates, and ratio of synonymous versus non-synonymous substitutions have been studied in partial sequences of the atpD and aroQ/pheA genes of primary ( Buchnera) and secondary symbionts of aphids and a set of selected non-symbiotic bacteria, belonging to the five subdivisions of the Proteobacteria. Compared to the homologous genes of the last group, both genes belonging to Buchnera behave in a similar way, showing a higher A+T content, forming a monophyletic group, a loss in codon bias, especially in third base position, an evolutionary acceleration and an increase in the number of non-synonymous substitutions, confirming pre…

A sequence motif enriched in regions bound by the Drosophila dosage compensation complex

2010

Abstract Background In Drosophila melanogaster, dosage compensation is mediated by the action of the dosage compensation complex (DCC). How the DCC recognizes the fly X chromosome is still poorly understood. Characteristic sequence signatures at all DCC binding sites have not hitherto been found. Results In this study, we compare the known binding sites of the DCC with oligonucleotide profiles that measure the specificity of the sequences of the D. melanogaster X chromosome. We show that the X chromosome regions bound by the DCC are enriched for a particular type of short, repetitive sequences. Their distribution suggests that these sequences contribute to chromosome recognition, the genera…

Codon usage in the siliceous sponge Geodia cydonium: highly expressed genes in the simplest multicellular animals prefer C- and G-ending codons

2001

Among a sample of 39 Geodia cydonium (Demospongiae, Porifera) genes, with an average Gh+hC content of 51.2%, extensive structural heterogeneity and considerable variations in synonymous codon usage were found. The G + C content of coding sequences and G + C content at silent codon positions (GC3S) varied from 42.4 to 59.2% and from 35.6 to 76.5%, respectively. Correspondence analysis of 39 genes revealed that putative highly expressed genes preferentially use a limited subset of codons, which were therefore defined as preferred codons in G. cydonium. A total of 22 preferred codons for 18 amino acids with synonyms in codons were identified and they all (with one exception) end with C or G. A…