The complete sequence of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of the assassin bug, Sirtheneaflavipes (Stål), was determined. The circular genome is 15, 961 bp long and contains a standard gene complement, i.e., the large and small ribosomal RNA (rRNA) subunits, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), and the 1, 295 bp control region. The nucleotide composition of S. flavipes mt g...

Two competing events, termination and readthrough (or nonsense suppression), can occur when a stop codon reaches the A-site of a translating ribosome. Translation termination results in hydrolysis of the final peptidyl-tRNA bond and release of the completed nascent polypeptide. Alternatively, readthrough, in which the stop codon is erroneously decoded by a suppressor or near cognate transfer RN...

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a eukaryotic surveillance process that promotes selective degradation of imperfect messages containing premature translation termination codons (PTCs). In yeast, PTCs trigger both deadenylylation-independent mRNA decapping, thereby allowing their rapid degradation by a 5' to 3' exonuclease, and to a smaller extent accelerated deadenylylation. It is not clea...

Nonsense mutations introduce premature termination codons and underlie 11% of genetic disease cases. High concentrations of aminoglycosides can restore gene function by eliciting premature termination codon readthrough but with low efficiency. Using a high-throughput screen, we identified compounds that potentiate readthrough by aminoglycosides at multiple nonsense alleles in yeast. Chemical op...

The coarse-legged tick Hyalomma rufipes (Koch, 1844), a two-host and an important vector for multiple pathogens, can cause severe damage to humans domestic animals. Here, we provide the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of H. from China obtained by next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods. 14,761 bp long mitogenome had high A + T content (79.7%) contained typical set 37 genes, with 13 ...

Translational stop codons were introduced at various locations in the protein-coding regions of the monocistronic bla and ompA gene transcripts of Escherichia coli, and the decay characteristics of the upstream and downstream mRNA segments were analyzed. Premature termination of translation at codon position 26 reduced the stability of both the translated and ribosome-free segments of bla mRNA,...

In eukaryotes, an elaborate set of mechanisms has evolved to ensure that the multistep process of gene expression is accurately executed and adapted to cellular needs. The mRNA surveillance pathway works in this context by assessing the quality of mRNAs to ensure that they are suitable for translation. mRNA surveillance facilitates the detection and destruction of mRNAs that contain premature t...

Degeneracy of the genetic code is a biological way to minimize effects of the undesirable mutation changes. Degeneration has a natural description on the 5-adic space of 64 codons C5(64) = {n0 + n1 5 + n2 5 2 : ni = 1, 2, 3, 4} , where ni are digits related to nucleotides as follows: C = 1, A = 2, T = U = 3, G = 4. The smallest 5-adic distance between codons joins them into 16 quadruplets, whic...

The termination of protein synthesis is encoded by in-frame nonsense (stop) codons. Most organisms use three nonsense codons: UGA, UAG, and UAA. In contrast to sense codons, which are decoded by specific tRNAs, nonsense codons are decoded by proteins called release factors (RFs). Here we report the cloning of a mammalian RF cDNA by the use of monoclonal antibodies specific for rabbit RF. Functi...