title: Determinants of translation efficiency and accuracy.
abstract: Proper functioning of biological cells requires that the process of protein expression be carried out with high efficiency and fidelity. Given an amino-acid sequence of a protein, multiple degrees of freedom still remain that may allow evolution to tune efficiency and fidelity for each gene under various conditions and cell types. Particularly, the redundancy of the genetic code allows the choice between alternative codons for the same amino acid, which, although 'synonymous,' may exert dramatic effects on the process of translation. Here we review modern developments in genomics and systems biology that have revolutionized our understanding of the multiple means by which translation is regulated. We suggest new means to model the process of translation in a richer framework that will incorporate information about gene sequences, the tRNA pool of the organism and the thermodynamic stability of the mRNA transcripts. A practical demonstration of a better understanding of the process would be a more accurate prediction of the proteome, given the transcriptome at a diversity of biological conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
authors.forename: Hila
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gingold
authors.forename: Yitzhak
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pilpel
mesh_terms: D000596:Amino Acids / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003062:Codon / Q000235:genetics*; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005815:Genetic Code; D006801:Humans; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D046188:Protein Modification, Translational; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012343:RNA, Transfer / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D003062:Codon; D020543:Proteome; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012343:RNA, Transfer