病毒-宿主密码子使用的若干统计特征及其协同进化

基于归1000密码子使用频次,从垂直和水平两个方向研究了不同进化阶层宿主-病毒密码子使用的若干统计特征及其协同进化规律。结果表明,病毒密码子和氨基酸多样性总体上高于相应宿主;细菌-噬菌体、真菌-真菌病毒、无脊椎动物-无脊椎动物病毒的密码子使用频次匹配较好,细菌-噬菌体、无脊椎动物-无脊椎动物病毒的氨基酸丰度匹配较好;病毒基因AU含量、AU3s含量总体上高于相应宿主;病毒和宿主密码子第一位碱基含量均GA>CU;密码子第二位碱基含量均A>U>C>G;病毒与宿主编码区碱基的相对分子量和相对π电子共振能总体上存在较明显的跟随现象。病毒和宿主基因在密码子使用频次等多个统计特征方面既呈现协同进化趋势,又有较明显的分化。     

痘苗病毒基因组密码子使用频率分析

密码子使用的差别是普遍存在的现象,每一个密码子被某些生物偏爱,而在另一些生物中则很少使用.以往这方面的研究多集中在自养生物中,而对纯寄生的病毒本身及其与宿主细胞基因密码子使用频率关系的研究则很少.分析痘苗病毒哥本哈根株189个基因的密码子使用频率发现:总体上痘苗病毒偏爱使用以A/U为结尾的密码子;基因的异质性不强,没有影响密码子使用的主要趋势;在不同转录方向上和表达时相上,基因密码子使用略有不同;不同功能的基因其密码子使用上差别较大;晚期基因比早期基因与宿主密码子使用频率的差别大.上述结果表明:密码子是影响病毒和细胞相互作用、保证其自身生存的重要机制.     

五个鸡群中催乳素基因密码子使用频率与产蛋量的关系分析

通过鸡催乳素基因编码区基因扫描,发现3个SNP位点,分别是外显子2的C1607T、外显子5的C5749T和T5821C,3个SNP均没有改变氨基酸的编码.同时发现不同的单倍型间存在不同的密码子使用频率.对5个鸡群共370只鸡进行SSCP的基因型检测,共发现7种单倍型,结合44周龄产蛋量分析,发现不同单倍型的平均产蛋量存在显著性差异.结合密码子使用频率分析,发现使用高频密码子的单倍型个体产蛋量相对高.通过酶联免疫方法检测催乳素表达量,结果显示,使用高频密码子的个体,激素水平较高,其中使用2个高频密码子的单倍型个体和使用1.5个密码子的单倍型个体之间存在极显著差异.研究结果表明,密码子使用频率与产蛋量在一定的范围内呈现正相关趋势.     

杨树派间不同种的遗传密码子使用频率分析

遗传密码子的简并性特征造成了不同物种使用的密码子存在偏爱性。了解不同物种的密码子使用特点,可以为外源基因导入过程中的基因改造提供依据,从而实现外源基因的高效表达。杨树是世界上广泛栽培的重要造林树种之一,已经成为林木基因工程研究的模式植物。本研究采用高频密码子分析法,对美洲山杨P.tremuloides,毛白杨P.tomentosa,美洲黑杨P.deltoids和毛果杨P.trichocarpa 4种杨树的蛋白质编码基因序列(CDS)进行了分析,计算出了杨树同义密码子相对使用频率(RFSC),确定了4种杨树的高频率密码子,发现虽然不同种类的杨树密码子使用上有一些差别,但是偏爱密码子的差别却很小,共性的密码子占绝大多数。仅有Pro,Thr和Cys等少数几个氨基酸的偏爱密码子有差别。这种“共性”提示我们,用不同种的杨树中任何一种杨树的偏爱密码子所设计的外源基因在其他杨树中也可以使用。     

遗传密码子使用频率的统计程序及其实际应用

本文设计了一种用于统计遗传密码子使用频率进行的Foxbase程序,即应用该程序对近年来在我国报道了全序列测定结果的若干重要基因的密码子的使用情况进行了统计分析,效果良好.     

马铃薯X病毒外壳蛋白的表达水平与变偶密码子使用频率的相关性

把经密码子修饰的马铃薯X病毒（Potato Virus X, PVX）外壳蛋白（Coat Protein, CP）基因和未修饰的野生型外壳蛋白基因与CaMV 35S启动子融合后,构建成相应的植物表达载体,利用农杆菌介导转化烟草。分别对修饰CP和野生CP的转基因烟草进行Western blot和ELISA分析,结果表明经密码子修饰的PVX外壳蛋白的表达量是野生型蛋白表达量的1/3～1/5。Northern blot结果表明修饰和未修饰的外壳蛋白在转录水平上是一致的。以上结果暗示外源基因中稀有密码子的数量可能是限制外源基因表达的一个因素。改变基因中稀有密码子的数量有可能成为控制基因表达的一种有效途径。     

圆红冬孢酵母的密码子用法分析

运用CodonW等软件,分析了圆红冬孢酵母Rhodosporidium toruloides基因组中191个蛋白质编码基因的密码子使用模式,包括密码子3个位置上的GC含量、有效密码子数和密码子使用频率。圆红冬孢酵母有效密码子数ENc值为38.9,密码子GC含量为63%,密码子第三位GC含量为78.3%,且偏好使用G或C结尾的密码子,确定了圆红冬孢酵母R. toruloides的21个高表达优越密码子。研究发现,圆红冬孢酵母与毕赤酵母、酿酒酵母、大肠杆菌和拟南芥在密码子使用频率上有较大差异,而与解脂耶氏酵母和果蝇差异相对较小。研究结果对提高外源基因在圆红冬孢酵母中表达效率及相关代谢工程和合成生物学研究有一定意义。     

杜仲基因密码子使用模式分析

为了解杜仲基因密码子使用模式,该文以杜仲基因组密码子为研究对象,运用CodonW软件对杜仲的320个蛋白编码基因进行同义密码子相对使用频率(RSCU)分析、ENC-GC3s关联分析编码基因的密码子ENC值、PR2-plot偏倚分析编码基因的密码子碱基使用频率,并运用CUSP软件与Codon Usage Database...     

密码子使用偏性量化方法研究综述

在基因组学水平上研究密码子使用偏性模式、成因并分析进化过程中的选择压力在基因组学研究中有重要意义。文章概述了目前提出的密码子使用偏性的量化方法及实现原理。目前研究发现：有些量化密码子偏性的方法受高表达基因参考数据集未完全注释的限制,不同密码子位置对变异和选择的影响不同,以及不同密码子位置处GC含量和嘌呤含量的贡献不同。由此展望密码子偏性量化方法发展方向为：需要设计不需要相关参考基因集合先验知识的密码子使用偏性量化方法;考虑不同位置处背景核苷酸组成的密码子使用偏性的量化方法;同时考虑基因表达水平的密码子使用偏性量化方法。最后,归纳了目前可用的密码子使用偏性的量化工具和数据库。     

大肠杆菌基因中密码子前后碱基的使用与蛋白质结构

对一组E.coli基因中编码蛋白质各类二级结构（α-螺旋、β－折叠片、无规卷曲和回折）的密码子前后碱基的使用情况进行统计分析和比较,发现一些密码子前后碱基的使用有偏向,而且这些偏向与蛋白质的二级结构有关联,这同时亦表明,E.coli基因中同义密码子的选用与蛋白质的二级结构有一些关联。模型对于蛋白质结构预测算法的改进以及基因工程的研究有辅助作用。     

Mutation-selection models of codon substitution and their use to estimate selective strengths on codon usage

Current models of codon substitution are formulated at the levels of nucleotide substitution and do not explicitly consider the separate effects of mutation and selection. They are thus incapable of inferring whether mutation or selection is responsible for evolution at silent sites. Here we implement a few population genetics models of codon substitution that explicitly consider mutation bias and natural selection at the DNA level. Selection on codon usage is modeled by introducing codon-fitness parameters, which together with mutation-bias parameters, predict optimal codon frequencies for the gene. The selective pressure may be for translational efficiency and accuracy or for fine-tuning translational kinetics to produce correct protein folding. We apply the models to compare mitochondrial and nuclear genes from several mammalian species. Model assumptions concerning codon usage are found to affect the estimation of sequence distances (such as the synonymous rate d(S), the nonsynonymous rate d(N), and the rate at the 4-fold degenerate sites d(4)), as found in previous studies, but the new models produced very similar estimates to some old ones. We also develop a likelihood ratio test to examine the null hypothesis that codon usage is due to mutation bias alone, not influenced by natural selection. Application of the test to the mammalian data led to rejection of the null hypothesis in most genes, suggesting that natural selection may be a driving force in the evolution of synonymous codon usage in mammals. Estimates of selection coefficients nevertheless suggest that selection on codon usage is weak and most mutations are nearly neutral. The sensitivity of the analysis on the assumed mutation model is discussed.     

Analysis of synonymous codon usage bias in Chlamydia

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens that cause ocular and sexuallytransmitted diseases,and are associated with cardiovascular diseases.The analysis of codon usage mayimprove our understanding of the evolution and pathogenesis of Chlamydia and allow reengineering of targetgenes to improve their expression for gene therapy.Here,we analyzed the codon usage of C.muridarum,C.trachomatis(here indicating biovar trachoma and LGV),C.pneumoniae,and C.psittaci using the codonusage database and the CUSP(Create a codon usage table)program of EMBOSS(The European MolecularBiology Open Software Suite).The results show that the four genomes have similar codon usage patterns,with a strong bias towards the codons with A and T at the third codon position.Compared with Homosapiens,the four chlamydial species show discordant seven or eight preferred codons.The ENC(effectivenumber of codons used in a gene)-plot reveals that the genetic heterogeneity in Chlamydia is constrained bythe G+C content,while translational selection and gene length exert relatively weaker influences.Moreover,mutational pressure appears to be the major determinant of the codon usage variation among the chlamydialgenes.In addition,we compared the codon preferences of C.trachomatis with those of E.coli,yeast,adenovirus and Homo sapiens.There are 23 codons showing distinct usage differences between C.trachomatisand E.coli,24 between C.trachomatis and adenovirus,21 between C.trachomatis and Homo sapiens,butonly six codons between C.trachomatis and yeast.Therefore,the yeast system may be more suitable for theexpression of chlamydial genes.Finally,we compared the codon preferences of C.trachomatis with those ofsix eukaryotes,eight prokaryotes and 23 viruses.There is a strong positive correlation between the differ-ences in coding GC content and the variations in codon bias(r=0.905,P<0,001).We conclude that thevariation of codon bias between C.trachomatis and other organisms is much less influenced by phylogeneticlineage and primarily determined by the extent of disparities in GC content.     

Synonymous codon usage in Thermosynechococcus elongatus (cyanobacteria) identifies the factors shaping codon usage variation

Analysis of synonymous codon usage pattern in the genome of a thermophilic cyanobacterium, Thermosynechococcus elongatus BP-1 using multivariate statistical analysis revealed a single major explanatory axis accounting for codon usage variation in the organism. This axis is correlated with the GC content at third base of synonymous codons (GC3s) in correspondence analysis taking T. elongatus genes. A negative correlation was observed between effective number of codons i.e. Nc and GC3s. Results suggested a mutational bias as the major factor in shaping codon usage in this cyanobacterium. In comparison to the lowly expressed genes, highly expressed genes of this organism possess significantly higher proportion of pyrimidine-ending codons suggesting that besides, mutational bias, translational selection also influenced codon usage variation in T. elongatus. Correspondence analysis of relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU) with A, T, G, C at third positions (A3s, T3s, G3s, C3s, respectively) also supported this fact and expression levels of genes and gene length also influenced codon usage. A role of translational accuracy was identified in dictating the codon usage variation of this genome. Results indicated that although mutational bias is the major factor in shaping codon usage in T. elongatus, factors like translational selection, translational accuracy and gene expression level also influenced codon usage variation.     

Convergent host-parasite codon usage between honeybee and bee associated viral genomes

By correlating the codon usage in four insects (the honeybee, red flour beetle, mosquito and fruit fly) with six honeybee host specific viruses, we found that the codon usage patterns of the bee viruses were strongly related to that of the honeybee and only weakly related to the red flour beetle. The insects shared varying degrees of codon usage similarity which roughly follow the known phylogenetic relatedness. All of the codon usage similarity can be described by relatedness-by-descent except for the high codon usage similarity between the honeybee and honeybee associated viruses. This evidence for the convergent evolution of the honeybee viruses toward the codon usage of the honeybee suggests that small host specific viral genomes have the freedom to quickly optimize codon usage to successfully parasitize their preferred host. The codon usage co-evolution of the six host specific honeybee viruses towards the codon usage of the honeybee described in this paper is the first evidence for codon usage correlation between an insect host and a single stranded RNA virus.     

A cross talk between codon usage bias in human oncogenes

Background: Oncogenes are the genes that have the potential to induce cancer. The extent and origin of codon usage bias is an important indicator of the forces shaping genome evolution in living organisms. Results: We observed moderate correlations between gene expression as measured by CAI and GC content at any codon site. The findings of our results showed that there is a significant positive correlation (Spearman''s r= 0.45, P<0.01) between GC content at first and second codon position with that of third codon position. Further, striking negative correlation (r = -0.771, P < 0.01) between ENC with the GC3s values of each gene and positive correlation (r=0.644, P<0.01) in between CAI and ENC was also observed. Conclusions: The mutation pressure is the major determining factor in shaping the codon usage pattern of oncogenes rather than natural selection since its effects are present at all codon positions. The results revealed that codon usage bias determines the level of oncogene expression in human. Highly expressed oncogenes had rich GC contents with high degree of codon usage bias.     

Patterns of codon usage in two ciliates that reassign the genetic code: Tetrahymena thermophila and Paramecium tetraurelia

We used the recently sequenced genomes of the ciliates Tetrahymena thermophila and Paramecium tetraurelia to analyze the codon usage patterns in both organisms; we have analyzed codon usage bias, Gln codon usage, GC content and the nucleotide contexts of initiation and termination codons in Tetrahymena and Paramecium. We also studied how these trends change along the length of the genes and in a subset of highly expressed genes. Our results corroborate some of the trends previously described in Tetrahymena, but also negate some specific observations. In both genomes we found a strong bias toward codons with low GC content; however, in highly expressed genes this bias is smaller and codons ending in GC tend to be more frequent. We also found that codon bias increases along gene segments and in highly expressed genes and that the context surrounding initiation and termination codons are always AT rich. Our results also suggest differences in the efficiency of translation of the reassigned stop codons between the two species and between the reassigned codons. Finally, we discuss some of the possible causes for such translational efficiency differences.     

Efficient translation initiation dictates codon usage at gene start

The genetic code is degenerate; thus, protein evolution does not uniquely determine the coding sequence. One of the puzzles in evolutionary genetics is therefore to uncover evolutionary driving forces that result in specific codon choice. In many bacteria, the first 5–10 codons of protein‐coding genes are often codons that are less frequently used in the rest of the genome, an effect that has been argued to arise from selection for slowed early elongation to reduce ribosome traffic jams. However, genome analysis across many species has demonstrated that the region shows reduced mRNA folding consistent with pressure for efficient translation initiation. This raises the possibility that unusual codon usage is a side effect of selection for reduced mRNA structure. Here we discriminate between these two competing hypotheses, and show that in bacteria selection favours codons that reduce mRNA folding around the translation start, regardless of whether these codons are frequent or rare. Experiments confirm that primarily mRNA structure, and not codon usage, at the beginning of genes determines the translation rate.     

密码子偏性的分析方法及相关研究进展

密码子偏性是指生物体中编码同一种氨基酸的同义密码子的非均衡使用的现象,由于这一现象与遗传信息的载体分子DNA和生物功能分子蛋白质相关联,所以具有重要的生物学意义;本文概述了密码子偏性研究方面的基本理论和常用分析方法,归纳了密码子使用分析的常用软件和提供在线分析网站,介绍了与密码子偏性相关的生物学领域及最新的研究进展,并对深入研究进行展望。     

转座因子对水稻同义密码子使用偏性的影响

利用635个包含完整转座因子插入的粳稻CDS序列,对转座因子如何影响基因编码区的碱基组成及基因的表达水平,进而对基因同义密码子的使用偏性产生影响进行了详细分析。结果表明:转座因子插入极显著地影响到基因编码区的同义密码子使用但并非唯一因素;转座因子对不同基因的表达水平具有多重影响,有的基因表达被抑制,有的反而增强,但总的来说它减少了基因表达水平对同义密码子使用的影响程度。