Team:Cambridge/Bioluminescence/Bacterial Codon optimisation

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(What is codon usage?)
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{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/headerbar|colour=#386abc|title=Bacterial Codon Optimisation}}
{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/headerbar|colour=#386abc|title=Bacterial Codon Optimisation}}
=What is codon usage?=
=What is codon usage?=
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[[Image:GC_content.png|300px|right|the universal genetic code]]
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[[Image:codons.jpg|300px|right|the universal genetic code]]
One of the fascinating features of life is the '''universal genetic code'''.  In all known organisms, from bacteria to man, the same triplets of DNA bases code for the same amino acids.  However this does not mean that all species encode their genomes in exactly the same way.   
One of the fascinating features of life is the '''universal genetic code'''.  In all known organisms, from bacteria to man, the same triplets of DNA bases code for the same amino acids.  However this does not mean that all species encode their genomes in exactly the same way.   
The code is ''redundant'': a number of triplets code for the same amino acid.  While all species are able to translate any sequence of DNA interchangeably, E. coli prefers to use certain triplets to code for certain amino acids which may be different to the ones we use.  This 'preference' is reflected in the levels of tRNA which match such a triplet.  In this project we resynthesised a number of genes ''de novo'' and thus were able to codon optimise them for expression in E. coli.
The code is ''redundant'': a number of triplets code for the same amino acid.  While all species are able to translate any sequence of DNA interchangeably, E. coli prefers to use certain triplets to code for certain amino acids which may be different to the ones we use.  This 'preference' is reflected in the levels of tRNA which match such a triplet.  In this project we resynthesised a number of genes ''de novo'' and thus were able to codon optimise them for expression in E. coli.

Revision as of 02:04, 26 October 2010