title: The signatures of selection for translational accuracy in plant genes.
abstract: Little is known about the natural selection of synonymous codons within the coding sequences of plant genes. We analyzed the distribution of synonymous codons within plant coding sequences and found that preferred codons tend to encode the more conserved and functionally important residues of plant proteins. This was consistent among several synonymous codon families and applied to genes with different expression profiles and functions. Most of the randomly chosen alternative sets of codons scored weaker associations than the actual sets of preferred codons, suggesting that codon position within plant genes and codon usage bias have coevolved to maximize translational accuracy. All these findings are consistent with the mistranslation-induced protein misfolding theory, which predicts the natural selection of highly preferred codons more frequently at sites where translation errors could compromise protein folding or functionality. Our results will provide an important insight in future studies of protein folding, molecular evolution, and transgene design for optimal expression.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Agraria, Sezione di Agronomia e Coltivazione Erbacee Genetica-SACEG, Università degli studi di Sassari, Italy. aporceddu@uniss.it
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porceddu
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zenoni
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Camiolo
mesh_terms: D003062:Codon; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D012641:Selection, Genetic
chemical_list: D003062:Codon
keywords: coding sequences evolution; codon bias; constrained sites