密码对的偏爱与基因组进化的相关性分析

以5种真核、15种细菌、10种古菌生物基因组为样本,对密码对使用偏好性指标Г与密码对随基因组进化的指标α之间作线性分析,发现部分密码对的r值与α之间有显著的线性关系;密码子第三位点与紧邻密码子第一位点的双碱基（cP3cAl）使用与基因组进化有关。结果进一步肯定了密码对的使用与基因组进化存在相关性,同时从密码对使用的角度揭示了真核生物、真细菌、古菌的基本差别。     

密码对的使用与基因组进化

以5种真核、20种细菌、10种古菌生物的基因组为样本,分析了编码序列中密码对和基因间序列中三联体对的相对模式数随频数的分布,验证了这种分布符合Γ(α,β)分布。发现分布形状参数!值与生物基因组进化存在明显的相关性;编码序列与基因间序列的进化方式截然不同。随着进化,编码序列的分布形状逐渐向随机分布靠近(α值逐渐增大)。而对基因间序列,古菌与真核生物的分布形状接近,与细菌的分布相差明显。     

基于密码对使用的基因组进化

以密码对使用偏好性和密码对中二核苷酸频率分别构建了系统发育树。发现用40种模式生物编码序列中密码对的二核苷酸频率构建的系统发育树,明显将生物按进化分成细菌,古菌,真核生物;用密码对使用偏好性指标构建的系统发育树与基于密码对中二核苷酸频率的系统发育树基本一致。结果表明密码对中二核苷酸组分是密码对偏好的决定因素之一。     

76种细菌DNA双链碱基使用频率的比较及其意义

应用生物信息学方法,对已完成测序的76种细菌基因组进行比较,分析细菌基因组中编码区及密码子上碱基使用频率情况,结果显示：1.先导链与滞后链上在编码区的碱基使用频率无明显差异且显著正相关;2.先地链与滞后链在第一,第二,第三密码子碱基使用频率基本一致且显著正相关,结果表明,选择压力及自然突变对DNA双链总体碱基分布的影响相等。     

大肠杆菌基因中密码对使用的规律

为了探讨基因组序列的非随机性对密码对使用的影响程度,揭示依赖上下文的密码对偏爱性(CDCB)可能存在的规律,本文主要对大肠杆菌基因组中密码子及其紧邻密码子(密码对)偏爱作了全面的统计分析。结果发现85%的密码子在其紧邻密码子位点有显著依赖上下文的密码对偏爱性,通过密码对与全序列六联体(三联体对)的相对丰度比较发现,大约35%的密码对偏好性不能用基因组的序列组分来解释。当密码子第二和第三位点核苷酸相同,且紧邻密码子相同时,它们的相对丰度有显著相关性。结果表明我们的数据支持依赖上下文的密码子偏好的主要原因是蛋白质合成精确性选择的假设,即本文结果揭示了依赖上下文的密码对偏好性可能存在的规律,从而为今后进一步研究大肠杆菌基因组中密码对使用偏好性提供参考。     

62种细菌基因组中密码子碱基位置上碱基分布的差异性及相关性

应用生物信息学方法,对已完成测序的62种细菌基因组进行：1．同一密码子碱基位置上不同碱基分布频率的比较;2．不同密码子碱基位置上同一碱基分布频率的比较。结果显示：1．三个密码子碱基位置上及四种碱基的分布频率差异存在显著性;2．三个密码子碱基位置上的四种碱基的分布频率显著相关。结论提示,在细菌的进化过程中,任一密码子碱基位置上任一碱基的分布有可能受到所处密码子碱基位置及其他三种碱基分布的影响。     

DNA双链密码对使用的不对称性

目的：分析基因组组分极其偏向的厌氧性粘菌和立克次氏体基因中密码对的使用,研究DNA双链密码对使用的不对称性。方法：生物统计学。结果：发现脱卤厌氧粘菌和立克次氏体基因组中分别有17%和21%的密码对在DNA双链上的使用偏好性正好相对,这表明它们的前导链与滞后链上密码对的使用偏好存在差异。因此,影响密码对搭配的重要原因之一是基因所在链的特性。这些特性可能包括：基因方向性偏好、密码子使用偏好、密码子的前后文关系等。结论：造成上述两物种DNA双链间密码对使用不对称的原因可能是DNA链特异的突变偏好性和在复制、转录、翻译水平上的自然选择约束。     

5''UTR中AUG的分布及其对翻译起始的影响

以细菌和古菌基因组5’UTR序列作为研究对象,分析在5’UTR的3个不同阅读框架中三联体AUG的分布,发现无论是细菌还是古菌基因组都在阅读框1中有非常明显的AUG缺失（depletion）。AUG的缺失表明在起始密码子上游的AUG很可能会对基因的翻译起始产生影响。分析得知：绝大部分的AUG都是以uORF（upstream open readingframe）的形式出现的,uAUG（upstreamAUG）的数量很少,特别是在阅读框1中,而且在细菌基因组的阅读框1中uAUG较多地出现在了含有SD序列的基因上游。比较发现,uAUG引导的序列在同义密码子使用上的偏好性较真正的编码序列差,这可能表明细菌和古菌在同义密码子使用上的偏好性也是决定基因准确地翻译起始的重要因素之一。     

5’UTR中AUG的分布及其对翻译起始的影响

以细菌和古菌基因组5′ UTR序列作为研究对象,分析在5′ UTR 的3个不同阅读框架中三联体AUG的分布,发现无论是细菌还是古菌基因组都在阅读框1中有非常明显的AUG缺失(depletion)。AUG的缺失表明在起始密码子上游的AUG很可能会对基因的翻译起始产生影响。分析得知：绝大部分的AUG都是以uORF(upstream open reading frame)的形式出现的,uAUG(upstream AUG)的数量很少,特别是在阅读框1中,而且在细菌基因组的阅读框1中uAUG较多地出现在了含有SD序列的基因上游。比较发现,uAUG引导的序列在同义密码子使用上的偏好性较真正的编码序列差,这可能表明细菌和古菌在同义密码子使用上的偏好性也是决定基因准确地翻译起始的重要因素之一。     

用图论方法研究核酸序列的密码子使用与基因表达水平的关系

研究了Escherichiacoli（115个基因）和SacharomycesYeast（97个基因）核酸序列的密码子使用频率与基因表达水平的关系．将同义密码子按使用频率统计值分成三种特性的密码子：最适密码子（H）、非最适密码子（L）和稀有密码子（R）,对每一基因序列的编码区,算出它们各自出现的概率P（H）,P（L）和P（R）．以P（H）和P（R）为指标,用图论法聚类,发现每种生物的高低表达基因明显分开,基因表达水平被分为四级：甚高表达基因（VH）、高表达基因（H）、较低表达基因（LM）和低表达基因（LL）．每类基因的表达水平与实验结果保持了很好的相关性,与E．coli和Yeast的现有资料相比,符合很好．     

Codon and Codon-Pair Usage Tables (CoCoPUTs): Facilitating Genetic Variation Analyses and Recombinant Gene Design

Usage of sequential codon-pairs is non-random and unique to each species. Codon-pair bias is related to but clearly distinct from individual codon usage bias. Codon-pair bias is thought to affect translational fidelity and efficiency and is presumed to be under the selective pressure. It was suggested that changes in codon-pair utilization may affect human disease more significantly than changes in single codons. Although recombinant gene technologies often take codon-pair usage bias into account, codon-pair usage data/tables are not readily available, thus potentially impeding research efforts. The present computational resource (https://hive.biochemistry.gwu.edu/review/codon2) systematically addresses this issue. Building on our recent HIVE-Codon Usage Tables, we constructed a new database to include genomic codon-pair and dinucleotide statistics of all organisms with sequenced genome, available in the GenBank. We believe that the growing understanding of the importance of codon-pair usage will make this resource an invaluable tool to many researchers in academia and pharmaceutical industry.     

BIGPROBE: a computer program that predicts the sequence of long oligonucleotide probes with high reliability

We have written a computer program, BIGPROBE, which facilitates the design of long nucleic acid probes from the partial or complete amino acid sequence of a protein. BIGPROBE relies upon information on codon usage, intercodon dinucleotide frequency, and potential probe self-complementarity. We have examined the accuracy with which the program predicts coding sequences using sample human and rat genes and probe lengths of 30-60 nucleotides. Rat probe sequences selected by BIGPROBE using either codon usage or dinucleotide frequency data alone averaged 86-92% homology with the known exons of the corresponding gene sequences. Predictive accuracy with rat gene probes could be improved to 89-94%, depending upon probe length, by applying codon usage and dinucleotide frequency data in combination. Similar accuracy was achieved for human genes.     

Codon usage bias in prokaryotic pyrimidine-ending codons is associated with the degeneracy of the encoded amino acids

Synonymous codons are unevenly distributed among genes, a phenomenon termed codon usage bias. Understanding the patterns of codon bias and the forces shaping them is a major step towards elucidating the adaptive advantage codon choice can confer at the level of individual genes and organisms. Here, we perform a large-scale analysis to assess codon usage bias pattern of pyrimidine-ending codons in highly expressed genes in prokaryotes. We find a bias pattern linked to the degeneracy of the encoded amino acid. Specifically, we show that codon-pairs that encode two- and three-fold degenerate amino acids are biased towards the C-ending codon while codons encoding four-fold degenerate amino acids are biased towards the U-ending codon. This codon usage pattern is widespread in prokaryotes, and its strength is correlated with translational selection both within and between organisms. We show that this bias is associated with an improved correspondence with the tRNA pool, avoidance of mis-incorporation errors during translation and moderate stability of codon-anticodon interaction, all consistent with more efficient translation.     

Significance of nucleotide sequence alignments: a method for random sequence permutation that preserves dinucleotide and codon usage

The similarity of two nucleotide sequences is often expressed in terms of evolutionary distance, a measure of the amount of change needed to transform one sequence into the other. Given two sequences with a small distance between them, can their similarity be explained by their base composition alone? The nucleotide order of these sequences contributes to their similarity if the distance is much smaller than their average permutation distance, which is obtained by calculating the distances for many random permutations of these sequences. To determine whether their similarity can be explained by their dinucleotide and codon usage, random sequences must be chosen from the set of permuted sequences that preserve dinucleotide and codon usage. The problem of choosing random dinucleotide and codon-preserving permutations can be expressed in the language of graph theory as the problem of generating random Eulerian walks on a directed multigraph. An efficient algorithm for generating such walks is described. This algorithm can be used to choose random sequence permutations that preserve (1) dinucleotide usage, (2) dinucleotide and trinucleotide usage, or (3) dinucleotide and codon usage. For example, the similarity of two 60-nucleotide DNA segments from the human beta-1 interferon gene (nucleotides 196-255 and 499-558) is not just the result of their nonrandom dinucleotide and codon usage.      

Codon pairs in the genome of Escherichia coli

MOTIVATION: The effect of two neighboring codons (codon pairs) on gene expression is mediated via the interaction of their cognate tRNAs occupying the two functional ribosomal sites during the translation elongation step. For steric reasons it is reasonable to assume that not all combinations of codons and therefore of tRNAs are equally favorable when situated on the ribosome surface. Aiming of identifying preferential and rare codon pairs, we have determined the frequency of occurrence of all possible combinations of codon pairs in the entire genome of Escherichia coli (E.coli). RESULTS: The frequency of occurrence of the 3904 codon pairs comprising both sense:sense and sense:stop codon pairs in the full set of E.coli 4289 ORFs was found to vary from zero to 4913 times. For most of the pairs we have observed a significant difference between the real and statistically predicted frequency of occurrence. The analysis of 334 highly expressed and 303 poorly expressed E.coli genes showed that codon pair usage is different for the two gene categories. Using an especially defined criterion (Delta(REG)), the codon pairs are classified as 'hypothetically attenuating' (HAP) and 'hypothetically non-attenuating' (HNAP) and their possible effect on translation is discussed. AVAILABILITY: The program used in this study is available at http://www.bio21.bas.bg/codonpairs/     

Mononucleotide and dinucleotide frequencies, and codon usage in poliovirion RNA.

The polio type 1 (Mahoney) RNA sequence (1) has been analyzed in terms of the distribution of its mononucleotides, dinucleotides and trinucleotides (codons). The distribution of adenosine in the sequence is nonuniform, being lower at the 5' end and higher at the 3' end. The dinucleotide CG is relatively rare and the dinucleotides UG and CA are relatively more common than expected. Codon usage is decidedly nonrandom. Codons containing CG are avoided and those ending in adenosine are favored. The asymmetric use of mononucleotides, dinucleotides and codons in polio RNA is unexplained at the present time although the lowered CG frequency may be the result of a DNA origin for polio RNA.