A code within a code: how codons influence mRNA stability

Javier Martinez; Bojan Zagrovic

doi:10.15252/embj.201695283

A code within a code: how codons influence mRNA stability

EMBO J. 2016 Oct 4;35(19):2064-2065. doi: 10.15252/embj.201695283. Epub 2016 Aug 25.

Authors

Javier Martinez¹, Bojan Zagrovic²

Affiliations

¹ IMBA, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL), Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
² Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL), Department of Structural and Computational Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

The genetic code was deciphered more than 50 years ago, but we are only now becoming aware of a second, hidden code. It is the concept of “codon optimality” that enters the scene of developmental and homeostatic gene expression, linking translation rates, mRNA stability, and tRNA abundance. Both at the biological and methodological levels, work by Giraldez and colleagues in this issue of The EMBO Journal paves the way for further analyses of such key regulatory mechanisms.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Amino Acids / genetics
Codon*
Genetic Code
Models, Genetic
RNA Stability*

Substances

Amino Acids
Codon