background: little knowledge of synonymous codon usage pattern of pseudorabies virus (prv) genome, especially the ul31 gene in the process for its evolution is available. objectives: in the present study, the codon usage bias between prv ul31 sequence and the ul31-like sequences was identified. materials and methods: we used a comprehensive analysis on codon usage pattern in the prv ul31 gene a...

Initiation is often assumed to be rate-limiting for protein synthesis, but the presence of rare codons nonetheless can influence protein levels. In this issue of The EMBO Journal, Chu et al report that when rare codons are positioned near the start of the coding region, 'liberation' of the initiation codon for loading of the next 40S subunit may be rate‐limiting for initiation and therefore ove...

We examined a large consanguineous Druze family with McArdle disease for mutations in the glycogen myophosphorylase (PYGM) gene. All affected subjects were autozygous for a single G to A transition that abolishes the 5' consensus splice site in the first nucleotide of intron 14. The G to A transition is a rare mutation, with only one previous report in a single white subject heterozygous for th...

AGA and AGG codons for arginine are the least used codons in Escherichia coli, which are encoded by a rare tRNA, the product of the dnaY gene. We examined the positions of arginine residues encoded by AGA/AGG codons in 678 E. coli proteins. It was found that AGA/AGG codons appear much more frequently within the first 25 codons. This tendency becomes more significant in those proteins containing...

background: most of the amino acids are encoded by more than one codon, termed as synonymous codons. synonymous codon usage is not random as it is unique to species. in each amino acid family, some synonymous codons are preferred and this is referred to as synonymous codon usage bias (scub). trends associated with evolution of scub and factors influencing its diversification in plastomes of gen...

Codon use among the three domains of life is not confined to the universal genetic code. With only 22 tRNA genes in mammalian mitochondria, exceptions from the universal code are necessary for proper translation. A particularly interesting deviation is the decoding of the isoleucine AUA codon as methionine by the one mitochondrial-encoded tRNA(Met). This tRNA decodes AUA and AUG in both the A- ...

We developed a rapid and simple method to diagnose the molecular defects of beta-thalassemia in Chinese patients. This method involves the selective amplification of a DNA fragment from human beta globin gene with specific oligonucleotide primers, followed by digestion with restriction enzymes that recognize artificially created or naturally occurring restriction sites. To detect the 4-nucleoti...

The gene coding for proline iminopeptidase in Bacillus coagulans was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Nucleotide sequencing revealed an 861-bp open reading frame with an unusual TTG initiation codon, encoding a 287-amino-acid protein. The calculated molecular weight of the product was 32,415. The amino acid sequences of the amino-terminal region and those of some peptide fragments obta...

Background: In prostate cancer, mutated p53 alleles typically contain missense single-base substitution in codon 72 that resides within exons 5-8. Stable p53 proteins in tumor cell nuclei have been associated with malignancy. A role of p53 is the regulation of drug transporters like ABCC1 (MRP1) by an effect on promoter region. Objectives: The objective of this study was to identify association...

PURPOSE Genetic polymorphisms may affect not only cancer development but also cancer progression, and as a result could influence cancer phenotypes. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between breast cancer susceptibility gene polymorphisms and clinicopathological features. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We genotyped 664 Korean primary breast cancer patients for 17 single-nucleotide po...