Driving change: the evolution of alternative genetic codes

Pioneering studies in the 1960s that elucidated the genetic code suggested that all extant forms of life use the same genetic code. This early presumption has subsequently been challenged by the discovery of deviations of the universal genetic code in prokaryotes, eukaryotic nuclear genomes and mito...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in genetics 2004-02, Vol.20 (2), p.95-102
Main Authors: Santos, Manuel A.S, Moura, Gabriela, Massey, Steven E, Tuite, Mick F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Codon
Eucarya
Evolution, Molecular
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic Code
Genetic Variation
Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution
Genome
Humans
Models, Genetic
Molecular and cellular biology
Procarya
Proteins - genetics
RNA, Transfer - genetics
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Summary:Pioneering studies in the 1960s that elucidated the genetic code suggested that all extant forms of life use the same genetic code. This early presumption has subsequently been challenged by the discovery of deviations of the universal genetic code in prokaryotes, eukaryotic nuclear genomes and mitochondrial genomes. These studies have revealed that the genetic code is still evolving despite strong negative forces working against the fixation of mutations that result in codon reassignment. Recent data from in vitro, in vivo and in silico comparative genomics studies are revealing significant, previously overlooked links between modified nucleosides in tRNAs, genetic code ambiguity, genome base composition, codon usage and codon reassignment.
ISSN:0168-9525
DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2003.12.009