title: Codon usage analysis of Ascaris species influence of base and intercodon frequencies on the synonymous codon usage.
abstract: Patterns of codon usage and bias were characterized in the genus Ascaris. Furthermore, the influence of base composition and intercodon frequencies on codon usage was investigated using freely available analytical software. Results showed that A and T were present in the genome at a higher frequency than G and C. As well, codons with AT base pairs at the wobble position were used more often than those with GC at this site, suggesting that the bias extends to the codon level. The presence of T at the intercodon position inhibited the use of codon with A at the wobble site. With respect to amino acid frequency, Serine, Leucine, and Arginine accounted for a disproportionately large fraction of the overall amino acid distribution per gene, implying that the bias was also conserved at the protein level.
authors.affiliation: Bioinformatics Supercomputing Center, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Fadiel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lithwick
authors.forename: Maha M M Abou
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gamra
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001200:Ascaris / Q000235:genetics*; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D003062:Codon / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D003062:Codon