Preferential codon usage in genes.
We present a method which permits comparison of the preferential use of degenerate codons within any gene. The method makes use of the triplet frequencies in the noncoding frames to assess whether a preference is specific to the reading frame. Preference is given a statistical meaning by use of the analysis of variance coupled to Duncan's multiple range test. Preferential use of degenerate codons is gene-specific and independent of gene size. The data suggest that any correlation between codon frequency distribution and tRNA levels is unreliable. In those animal genes examined, codons ending in C or G are preferred; in animal viruses tested, codons ending in U or A are preferred. Similarly, the bacterial genes and the genes of single-stranded DNA phages that we analyzed differed from each other as well as from eukaryotic genes in the third base of the codon.
D000818:Animals; D003062:Codon; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology; D005796:Genes; D005814:Genes, Viral; D006801:Humans; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
D003062:Codon; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014764:Viral Proteins; D004247:DNA