Switches in species-specific codon preferences: the influence of mutation biases.

Abstract excerpt

A model of synonymous codon usage is developed in which the most frequent codons are selectively advantageous because of their coadaptation with tRNA abundances. Random drift opposes the progress of this coevolution by pushing codon frequencies in the direction of the frequency that would result from mutation in the absence of selection. It is predicted that, within a certain range, an increased mutation bias...

Topics

• Amino Acids
• Base Composition
• Codon
• Enterobacteriaceae
• Mutation
• Selection, Genetic
• Species Specificity