Seminar by Steen Pedersen

The Genetic Code codes not only for the Amino Acids

Steen Pedersen (Dept. of Biology, Univ. of Copenhagen)

Abstract:

We probably all know that most amino acids are coded for by more than one codon and that the codons coding for the same amino acid are called synonymous.

I am no fan of this term because it suggests that it is of no consequence whether the cell uses one or another of the synonymous codons.

I will demonstrate that there are translation rate differences among the synonymous codons in bacteria and that those located early in a gene, enable a “velocity code”, within the amino acid coding ability, where the translation rate differences encode the mRNA stability and the premature termination of the RNA-polymerase.

Finally, I will present a model for how this might take place.