Genetic code triplet

The genetic code (Table 28 3) is the message earned by mRNA It is made up of triplets of adjacent nucleotide bases called codons Because mRNA has only four dif ferent bases and 20 ammo acids must be coded for codes using either one or two nucleotides per ammo acid are inadequate If nucleotides are read m sets of three how ever the four mRNA bases generate 64 possible words more than sufficent to code for 20 ammo acids... 

It is now known that each codon consists of a sequence of three nucleotides ie, it is a triplet code (see Table 38—1). The deciphering of the genetic code depended heavily on the chemical synthesis of nucleotide polymers, particularly triplets in repeated sequence. 

The degeneracy of the genetic code resides mosdy in the last nucleotide of the codon triplet, suggesting that the base pairing between this last nucleotide and the corresponding nucleotide of the anticodon is not strictly... 

In 1994, a conference with the title Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases and the Evolution of the Genetic Code was held in Berkeley, California its patron was the Institute of Advanced Studies in Biology. The conference dealt with the development of the synthetases and that of the genetic code (see Sect. 8.2), i.e., the assignment of the various amino acids to the corresponding base triplets of the nucleic acids. 

The information contained in the DNA (i.e., the order of the nucleotides) is first transcribed into RNA. The messenger RNA thus formed interacts with the amino-acid-charged tRNA molecules at specific cell organelles, the ribosomes. The loading of the tRNA with the necessary amino acids is carried out with the help of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (see Sect. 5.3.2). Each separate amino acid has its own tRNA species, i.e., there must be at least 20 different tRNA molecules in the cells. The tRNAs contain a nucleotide triplet (the anticodon), which interacts with the codon of the mRNA in a Watson-Crick manner. It is clear from the genetic code that the different amino acids have different numbers of codons thus, serine, leucine and arginine each have 6 codewords, while methionine and tryptophan are defined by only one single nucleotide triplet. 

However, if a triplet genetic code system really did exist around 3.5 billion years ago, an RNA strand containing about 100 nucleotides would only have been able to code for a maximum of 33 amino acids. With 33 amino acids, the polypeptide formed would have been only two thirds as long as the insulin molecule, and it is doubtful whether such a chain length would have sufficed for an active replication system. 

Genetic code Sequence of nucleotides along the DNA and coded in triplets (codons) along the mRNA that determines the sequence of amino acids in protein synthesis. The DNA sequence of a gene can be used to predict the mRNA sequence, and subsequently to predict the amino acid sequence. 

Transfer RNA (tRNA) RNA with a triplet nucleotide sequence that is complementary to the triplet nucleotide coding sequences of mRNA. tRNAs in protein synthesis bond with amino acids and transfer them to the ribosomes, where proteins are assembled according to the genetic code carried by mRNA... 

The genetic code is composed of four letters —two pyrimidine nitrogenous bases, thymine and cytosine, and two purine bases, guanine and adenine—which can be regarded functionally as arranged in codons (or triplets). Each codon consists of a combination of three letters therefore, 43 (64) different codons are possible. Sixty-one codons code for specific amino acids (three produce stop signals), and as only 20 different amino acids are used to make proteins, one amino acid can be specified by more than one codon. 

One of the groups of theories about the origin of the genetic code states that the code has to be the way it is, and is therefore universal, for stereochemical" reasons. In other words, phenylalanine, f. ex. must be represented by the triplets UUU and UUC because phenylalanine is somehow stereochemically related to these two codons 52,53,56,57) This seems likely, since steric fit is an essential property of the processes of replication, transcription and translation. That doesn t mean that one has conclusive evidence for such a statement. It only means that the theoreticians are groping in such a direction. 

The many (possibly more than 30) types of collagens found in human connective tissues have substantially the same chemical structure consisting mainly of glycine with smaller amounts of proline and some lysine and alanine. In addition, there are two unusual amino acids, hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine, neither of which has a corresponding base-triplet or codon within the genetic code. There is therefore, extensive post-translational modification of the protein by hydroxylation and also by glycosylation reactions. 

To transcribe information from DNA to mRNA, one strand of the DNA is used as a template. This is called the anticoding, or template, strand and the sequence of mRNA is complementary to that of the template DNA strand (Fig. A2.8) (i.e., C->G, G->C, T->A, and A U note that T is replaced by U in mRNA). The other DNA strand, which has the same base sequence as the mRNA, is called the coding, or sense, strand. There are 64 (4 x 4 x 4) possible triplet codes of the four bases 61 are used for coding amino acids and three for termination signals. As there are 20 amino acids for the 61 codes, some triplets code for the same amino acid. A table of the genetic code is presented in Exhibit A2.2. 

The triplet codon genetic codes of mRNA are translated into amino acids as shown below. 

One of the basic units of genetic information in the genetic code is the codon, which is a specific tri-nucleotide sequence (triplet). There are four nucleotide bases ( letters ) which can be arranged in three-letter combinations, making 64 possible codons (4 combinations) (see Figure 2.5). 

DNA shuffling A method to exchange portions of DNA among similar genes, in order to select for a certain trait, genetic code The set of rules that decodes nucleotide triplets (codons) into amino acids, which is identical in nearly every organism. 

As the genetic code provides 4 = 64 codons for the 20 amino acids, there are several synonymous codons for most amino acids— the code is degenerate. Three triplets do not code for amino acids, but instead signal the end of translation (stop codons). Another special codon, the start codon, marks the start of translation. The code shown here is almost universally applicable only the mitochondria (see p. 210) and a few microorganisms deviate from it slightly. 

The sequence of bases in the polynucleotide chain is also important because it determines the exact sequence of amino acids used in the synthesis of a protein. Twenty amino acids are commonly found in proteins, while only four bases are used in the DNA molecule. Thus, more than one base must specify each amino acid. The genetic code is in fact read as triplets and there are 64 possible triplet combinations using 4 nucleotides. Each triplet of nucleotides is termed a codon, and given the redundancy, some amino acids are specified by more than one codon. 

The way in which the coding strand of DNA specifies the sequence of amino acids in a protein is known as the genetic code. The code is made up of triplets of nucleic acid bases, known as codons. A given series of three bases in the coding strand DNA of a gene will unambiguously specify a particular amino acid and no other. 

A standard version of the genetic code for the triplet codons on a messenger RNA is given in Table 2.2. 

On each of the tRNA molecules, one of the single-stranded loops contains a trinucleotide sequence that is complementary to the triplet codon sequence used in the genetic code to specify a particular amino acid. This loop on the tRNA is known as the anticodon loop, and it is used to match the tRNA with a complementary codon on the mRNA. In this way the amino acids carried by the tRNA molecules can be aligned in the proper sequence for polymerization into a functional protein. 

C, G or T. This is not sufficient to encode the 20 possible amino acids. In triplets of 3 positions, there are 64 possible combinations. Hence, the system uses triplets, called codons. The code for each protein starts with an ATG (start codon) and ends with a TAA, TAG or a TGA (stop codons). The code is almost universal only mitochondria and ciliated protozoa have a different genetic code. 

Several key properties of the genetic code were established in early genetic studies (Figs 27-3, 27-4). A codon is a triplet of nucleotides that codes for a specific amino acid. Translation occurs in such a way that these nucleotide triplets are read in a successive, nonoverlapping fashion. A specific first codon in the... 

FIGURE 27-5 Reading frames in the genetic code. In a triplet, nonoverlapping code, all mRNAs have three potential reading frames, shaded here in different colors. The triplets, and hence the amino acids specified, are different in each reading frame. 

Consolidation of the results from many experiments permitted the assignment of 61 of the 64 possible codons. The other three were identified as termination codons, in part because they disrupted amino acid coding patterns when they occurred in a synthetic RNA polymer (Fig. 27-6). Meanings for all the triplet codons (tabulated in Fig. 27-7) were established by 1966 and have been verified in many different ways. The cracking of the genetic code is regarded as one of the most important scientific discoveries of the twentieth century. 

The general nature of the genetic code was suggested by the structure of DNA. Both DNA and proteins are linear polymers. Thus, it was logical to suppose that the sequence of the bases in DNA codes for the sequence of amino acids. There are only four bases in DNA but 20 different amino acids in proteins at the time of their synthesis. It is obvious that each amino acid must be specified by some combination of more than one base. While 16 pairs of bases are possible, this is still too few to specify 20 different amino acids. Therefore, it appeared that at least a triplet group of three nucleotides would be required to code for one amino acid.371 Sixty-four (43) such triplet codons exist, as is indicated in Tables 5-5 and 5-6. 

Another important technique was based on the observation that synthetic trinucleotides induced the binding to ribosomes of tRNA molecules that were "charged" with their specific amino acids 38/39 For example, the trinucleotides UpUpU and ApApA stimulated the binding to ribosomes of 14C-labeled phenylalanyl-tRNA and lysyl-tRNA, respectively. The corresponding dinucleotides had no effect, an observation that not only verified the two codons but also provided direct evidence for the triplet nature of the genetic code. Another powerful approach was the use of artificial RNA polymers, synthesized by combined chemical and enzymatic approaches.40 For example, the polynucleotide CUCUCUCUCU led to the synthesis by ribosomes of a regular alternating polypeptide of leucine and serine. 

Before the triplet nature of codons had been established, Crick and associates used frame-shift mutations in a clever way to demonstrate that the genetic code did consist of triplets of nucleotides.7 55/55a Consider what will happen if two strains of bacteria, each containing a frame-shift mutation (e.g., a -1 deletion), are mated. Genetic recombination can occur to yield mutants containing both of the frame-shift mutations. 

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