genetic code
Sequence of nucleotides in DNA and RNA that determines the amino acid sequence of proteins. A messenger RNA molecule synthesized from the DNA directs the synthesis of the protein. Three adjacent nucleotides constitute a unit known as a codon; each codon codes for a single amino acid. There are 64 possible codons, 61 of which specify the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. Because most of the 20 amino acids are coded for by more than one codon, the code is called degenerate. Once thought to be identical in all forms of life, the genetic code has been found to vary slightly in certain organisms and in the mitochondria of some eukaryotes.
genetic code
Genetic code
The rules by which the base sequences of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) are translated into the amino acid sequences of proteins. Each sequence of DNA that codes for a protein is transcribed or copied into messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Following the rules of the code, discrete elements in the mRNA, known as codons, specify each of the 20 different amino acids that are the constituents of proteins. During translation, another class of RNAs, called transfer RNAs (tRNAs), are coupled to amino acids, bind to the mRNA, and, in a step-by-step fashion provide the amino acids that are linked together in the order called for by the mRNA sequence. The specific attachment of each amino acid to the appropriate tRNA, and the precise pairing of tRNAs via their anticodons to the correct codons in the mRNA, form the basis of the genetic code. See Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), Protein, Ribonucleic acid (RNA)
The genetic information in DNA is found in the sequence or order of four bases that are linked together to form each strand of the two-stranded DNA molecule. The bases of DNA are adenine, guanine, thymine, and cytosine, which are abbreviated as A, G, T, and C. Chemically, A and G are purines, and C and T are pyrimidines. The two strands of DNA are wound about each other in a double helix that looks like a twisted ladder. Each rung of the ladder is formed by two bases, one from each strand, that pair with each other by means of hydrogen bonds. For a good fit, a pyrimidine must pair with a purine; in DNA, A bonds with T, and G bonds with C. See Purine, Pyrimidine
Ribonucleic acids such as mRNA or tRNA also comprise four bases, except that in RNA the pyrimidine uracil (U) replaces thymine. During transcription a single-stranded mRNA copy of one strand of the DNA is made.
If two bases at a time are grouped together, then only 4 × 4 or 16 different combinations are possible, a number that is insufficient to code for all 20 amino acids that are found in proteins. However, if the four bases are grouped together in threes, then there are 4 × 4 × 4 or 64 different combinations. Read sequentially without overlapping, those groups of three bases constitute a codon, the unit that codes for a single amino acid.
The 64 codons can be divided into 16 families of four (see illustration), in which each codon begins with the same two bases. With the number of codons exceeding the number of amino acids, several codons can code for the same amino acid. Thus, the code is degenerate. In eight instances, all four codons in a family specify the same amino acid. In the remaining families, the two codons that end with the pyrimidines U and C often specify one amino acid, whereas the two codons that end with the purines A and G specify another. Furthermore, three of the codons, UAA, UAG, and UGA, do not code for any amino acid but instead signal the end of the protein chain.
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On the ribosome, the nucleic acid code of an mRNA is converted into an amino acid sequence with the aid of tRNAs. These RNAs are relatively small nucleic acids, varying from 75 to 93 bases in length, that are folded in three dimensions to form an L-shaped molecule to which an amino acid can be attached. At the other end of the tRNA molecule, three bases are free to pair with a codon in the mRNA. These three bases of a tRNA constitute the anticodon. Each amino acid has one or more tRNAs, and because of the degeneracy of the code, many of the tRNAs for a specific amino acid have different anticodon sequences. However, the tRNAs for one amino acid are capable of pairing their anticodons only with the codon or codons in the mRNA that specify that amino acid. The tRNAs act as interpreters of the code, providing the correct amino acid in response to each codon by virtue of precise codon-anticodon pairing. The tRNAs pair with the codons and sequentially insert their amino acids in the exact order specified by the sequence of codons in the mRNA. See Ribosomes
The rules of the genetic code are virtually the same for all organisms, but there are some interesting exceptions. In the microorganism Mycoplasma capricolum, UGA is not a stop codon; instead it codes for tryptophan. This alteration in the code is also found in the mitochondria of some organisms. In addition to changes in the meanings of codons, a modified system for reading codons that requires fewer tRNAs is found in mitochondria. See Gene, Gene action, Genetics
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