Genetic Code Origin

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 September 2023) | Viewed by 3382

Special Issue Editor

The Ionian School, Genetic Code and tRNA Origin Laboratory, Via Roma 19, 67030, Alfedena, L'Aquila, Italy
Interests: genetic code origin; tRNA origin; LUCA; progenote

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material (DNA or mRNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Crick, Brenner, Barnett, and Watts-Tobin first demonstrated that codons consist of three DNA bases. Marshall Nirenberg and Heinrich J. Matthaei were the first to reveal the nature of a codon in 1961.

There are two general thoughts on the researches of genetic code origin. The first put the physicochemical properties of amino acids as the core of genetic code origin. The second line of thought maintains that the metabolic and biosynthetic relationships between amino acids are the main force in defining the evolutionary organization of the genetic code, and that the properties of amino acids play only a secondary role in this organization. This Special Issue, entitled “Genetic Code Origin”, aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the most recent advances in this timely topic and a preview to future research directions and challenges.

Dr. Massimo Di Giulio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • genetic code
  • codon
  • tRNA
  • evolution
  • amino acid
  • physicochemical properties of amino acids
  • origin of life

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

14 pages, 2544 KiB  
Review
Why Were [GADV]-amino Acids and GNC Codons Selected and How Was GNC Primeval Genetic Code Established?
by Kenji Ikehara
Genes 2023, 14(2), 375; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes14020375 - 31 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2136
Abstract
Correspondence relations between codons and amino acids are determined by genetic code. Therefore, genetic code holds a key of the life system composed of genes and protein. According to the GNC-SNS primitive genetic code hypothesis, which I have proposed, it is assumed that [...] Read more.
Correspondence relations between codons and amino acids are determined by genetic code. Therefore, genetic code holds a key of the life system composed of genes and protein. According to the GNC-SNS primitive genetic code hypothesis, which I have proposed, it is assumed that the genetic code originated from GNC code. In this article, first, it is discussed from a standpoint of primeval protein synthesis, why four [GADV]-amino acids were selected and used in the first GNC code. Next, it is explained from another standpoint of the most primitive anticodon-stem loop tRNAs (AntiC-SL tRNAs), how four GNCs were selected for the first codons. Furthermore, in the last section of this article, I will explain my idea of how the correspondence relations between four [GADV]-amino acids and four GNC codons were established. Namely, the origin and evolution of the genetic code was discussed comprehensively from several aspects of [GADV]-proteins, [GADV]-amino acids, GNC codons, and anticodon stem-loop tRNAs (AntiC-SL tRNAs), which relate each other to the origin of the genetic code, as integrating GNC code frozen-accident theory, coevolution theory, and adaptive theory on the origin of the genetic code. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Code Origin)
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