Genetic code

S.SIVAGAMI
II MSc Plant biology & Plant biotechnology
ETHIRAJ COLLEGE FOR WOMEN
 Agenda

 The letters A,G,T and C correspond to

the nucleotides found in DNA.
 They are organized into codon. The col-
lection of codons is called Genetics
code.
 For 20 amino acids there should be 20
codons.
 Each codon should have 3 nucleotides
to impart specificity to each of the
amino acid for a specific codon.
 1 nucleotide – 4 combinations
 2 nucleotide-16 combinations
 3nucleotide- 64 combinations
( most suited for 20 amino acids )
Section Break
Slide Title
 Codon and its type
 Genetic code is a Dictionary con-
sists of “Genetic words” called
CODONS.

 Each codon consists of three bases

(triplet) •

 There are 64 codons.

 61 codons code for 20 amino acids

found in protein.

 3 codons do not code for any amino

acid
 Type of codon
 Sense codon:- The codon that code for
amino acid are called sense codon.
 Signal codon:- Those codons that code for
signal during protein synthesis are called
signal codons. For Example:- AUG, UAA,
UAG & UGA There are Two types of signal
Sense
codons Terminating Codon Initiating Codons
Codon.
 “Terminating Codons” UAA, UAG & UGA
are termination codons or nonsense
Signal • Start codons
codons & are often referred to as amber,
ochre & opal codons. Codons • Stop codons

 “Initiating codon” AUG is the initiation

codon. It codes for the first amino acid in
all proteins. At the starting point it codes
for methionine in eukaryotes & formyl
methionine in prokaryotes.
 ANTICODON
 The base sequence of t RNA which pairs
with codon of mRNA during translation is
called anticodon.
 Anticodon is always present in RNA &
never in DNA. Anticodon of some tRNA
molecules have to pair with more than
one codon.
 Anticodons are discretely present in
cells with amino acids attached or not.
 Anticodon helps in bringing a particular
amino acid at its proper position during
translation.
 Properties of genetic code

1.The genetic code is the set of rules which

dictates the linear sequence of nucleotide in
thelinear sequence of a polypeptide.

2.They specify how a nucleotide sequence of an

mRNA is translated into the amino acid
sequence of a polypeptide

3.Thus it explains the relationship between

nucleotide sequences is of the mRNA and the
amino acid sequence of the polypeptide.
Degeneracy of genetic code:
 The genetic code is degenerate, this means that same amino acid is
coded by more than one base triplet.

 It does not imply a lack of specificity in protein synthesis, it just describes

that one amino acid can be directed to its place in the amino acid
sequence by more than one base triplets.

 The amino acids, arginine, alanine and leucine have 6 same codons.

 There are two types of degeneracy observed in the genetic code: partial
and complete.

 In partial degeneracy, the first 2 nucleotides are identical by the 3rd

nucleotide differs. Example: CUU and the CUC codon for leucine.

 Complete degeneracy is observed when any of the bases can take the
3rd position but still code for the same amino acid. Example: UCU, UCC,
UCG and UCA all code for serine.
 The non-overlapping nature of genetic code: The genetic code is
non-overlapping, which means, two adjacent codons do not overlap
each other.
A non-overlapping code refers to the same letter not being used for
two different codons. In other terms, a single base cannot take part in
the formation of more than one codon.

 The comma less feature of genetic code: The entire code is

comma less and there is no signal to indicate the beginning of the
end of a codon.
Also, there are no intermediary nucleotides between the codons.

 Non-ambiguity: The genetic code is non-ambiguous which means

a particular codon will always code for the same amino acid.
The same amino acid can be coded by more than one codon but the
same codon cannot code for two or more different amino acids.
 The universality of the genetic code: This means the
same sequences of 3 bases encode the amino acids in all
life forms from simple to complex
organisms.
The entire code is based on a study conducted on
E. coli, however, it is valid for organisms.
Only minor exceptions are yeast, mitochondria and
the Mycoplasma.

 Polarity: The genetic code has polarity and the

code is always red in a fixed direction. It is read from 5’ to 3’
If the code is read in the opposite direction (i.e., 3′ → 5′), it
would specify 2 different proteins, since the codon would
have reversed base sequence.
 References
https://microbenotes.com/characteristic-of-genetic-
code/

https://www.slideshare.net/vruddhidesai/genetic-c
ode-ppt

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OsVK2xtuLAC53Ao
DHUttd3Dt-wXLsGHr/view?usp=drivesdk

 https://present5.com/the-properties-of-the-geneti
c-code-learning/