Genetic Code Flexibility in Microorganisms: Novel Mechanisms and Impact on Physiology

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Microbiol

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Date 2015 Sep 29

PMID 26411296

Citations 64

Authors

Jiqiang Ling

Patrick ODonoghue

Dieter Soll

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The genetic code, initially thought to be universal and immutable, is now known to contain many variations, including biased codon usage, codon reassignment, ambiguous decoding and recoding. As a result of recent advances in the areas of genome sequencing, biochemistry, bioinformatics and structural biology, our understanding of genetic code flexibility has advanced substantially in the past decade. In this Review, we highlight the prevalence, evolution and mechanistic basis of genetic code variations in microorganisms, and we discuss how this flexibility of the genetic code affects microbial physiology.

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