GENETIC CODE

Nirenberg and Khorana shared noble price on genetic

code in 1968
 What is Genetic code???

• Genetic code is a dictionary that corresponds with

sequence of nucleotides and sequence of amino acids
.
• Genetic code is a set of rules by which information
encoded in genetic material(DNA or RNA sequences)
is translated into proteins by living cells.

• Term given By ″ Goerge Gamow ʺ

In simple languague Genetic code is defined as “ the
dictionary that helps in translating the languague of the
nucleic acid into the languague of protein”
Introduction of genetic code
 The letters A,G,T and C correspond to the
nucleotides found in DNA. They are organized
into codon.
 The collection 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 )
Type of codon
1. Sense Codons
2. Signal Codons
• Start codons
• Stop codons

 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 codons

Terminating Codon
Initiating Codon.
 “Terminating Codons”
UAA, UAG & UGA are termination codons or
nonsense 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.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GENETIC CODE
1. The code is Triplet code
2. The code is Comma less
3. The code is non- overlapping
4. The code is degenrate
5. The code is non ambiguous
6. The code is universal
7. The code has Polarity
8. The code is collinear
9. Start and stop codon
1. Genetic code is triplet
 The genetic code is triplet.
 There are 64 codons.
 It is necessary to have
triplet code to code any
amino acid.
 In triplet code, 64 triplets
are possible which would
be enough to code 20
amino acids.
2. The code is Universal

• The genetic code is universal. The codons for

particular amino acids are same in all organisms
like prokaryotes, eukaryotes including virus.
• With some exceptions noted the genetic code is
universal.
For eg:- UUU codes for phenylalanine in all the
species.
3. The code Non-Ambiguous
• The genetic code is non-ambiguous. (specific)
• Thus one codon can not specify more than one
amino acid.
Exception GGA codes for both glycine and
glutamine i.e., ambiguous code.
4. The code is Non-overlapping
• One base cannot participate in the formation of more than
one codon.
• This means that the code is non-overlapping.
 CAT GAT is readed as C A T G A T . It represents only
two codons i.e., CAT and GAT when it is not overlapped.
But when it is overlapped 4 codons like CAT, ATG, TGA
and GAT are achieved which is not possibel in genetic
code.
5. The code Commaless code or Continuous
Translation
 No room for punctuation in between which
indicates that every codon is adjacent to the
previous one without any nucleotides between
them.
 The gene is transcribed & translated continuously
from a fixed starting point to a fixed stop point.
6. The code is Degenerate (redudant)
• An amino acid can be coded for by more than one
codon. This is called degeneracy of genetic code.
For eg: phenylalanine which has two triplet codon ;
UUU and UUC. Similarly, arginine has six triplet
codons.
7. “The code has polarity”
• The code has a definite direction for reading of
message which is referred to as polarity.
• Reading of message from left to right & right to
left will specify for different amino acids.
• For Example UUG stands for leucine, & from right
to left it is GUU which stands for valine.
8. The code is collinear
 Genetic code works on the principle of
collinearity i.e., it explains the specific
relationship between DNA, RNA and polypeptide
chain.
 The linear order of nucleotide in DNA
determines the linear order of codons in mRNA
which in turn determines the linear order of
amino acids in polypeptide chain.
9. Start and Stop Codons
 Generally, AUG codon is the initiating or start
codon. The polypeptide chain starts either with
eukaryotes (methionine) or prokaryotes (N-
formylmethionine).
 On the other hand, UAG, UAA and UGA are
called as termination codons or stop codons.
These are not read by any tRNA molecules and
they never code for any amino acids
Wobble hypothesis
• Crick postulated the ‘wobble hypothesis’ to
account for the degeneracy of genetic code.
According this hypothesis, the first two bases of a
codon pair according to the normal base pairing
rules with the last two bases of the anticodon.
Base-pairing at the third position of a codon is
wobble.
 The conventional pairing
(A = U, G = C) is called
Watson-Crick pairing and
the second abnormal
pairing is
called wobble pairing.
 Wobble hypothesis explains the degeneracy of
the genetic code, i.e, existence of multiple
codons for a single amino acid. Although there
are 61 codons for amino acids, the number of
tRNA is far less (around 40)which is due to
wobbling
Gene Pool
Study of genes in a population is called population
genetics.
 A gene pool is the total variety of genes and alleles
present in a sexually reproducing population.
A population whose gene pool shows consistent change
from generation to generation indicates an evolutionary
change.
A static gene pool represents a situation where genetic
variation between members of the species is inaqequate
to brong evolutionary change,
The change in the gene pool may cause evolutionary
change in a popuation.
Gene frequency

In a population there are many genes. For a

particular phenotype or character a gene is must.
The number of organism in population carrying a
particular gene or allele determines the gene or
allele frequency.
For eg:- assume that in a given population the
percentage of albinism is 1% then the gene
frequency of albinism will be 1%.
In other word, the relatively number of particular
allele in a population is gene frequency.
In population genetics, the Hardy–Weinberg
principle, also known as the Hardy–Weinberg
equilibrium, model, theorem, or law, states
that allele and genotype frequencies in a population
will remain constant from generation to generation
in the absence of other evolutionary influences.

For calculation of gene frequency:

p+q=1 or 𝒑𝟐 + 𝟐𝒑𝒒 + 𝒒𝟐 = 𝟏
Where, p= frequency of domaint allele
q= frequency of recessive allele and pq= frequency of
heterozygous.
In natural population , the gene frequency is
changed due to following factors:
1. Gene migration or gene flow:The introduction
of genetic material (by interbreeding) from one
population of a species to another, thereby changing
the composition of the gene pool of the receiving
population.
2. Recombination: Recombination is a process by which
pieces of DNA are broken and recombined to produce
new combinations of alleles. This recombination
process creates genetic diversity at the level of genes that
reflects differences in the DNA sequences of different
organisms. Sources of recombination are fusion of
gamates, crossing over and independent assortment of
chromosomes during meiosis.
3. Genetic drift is a change in the frequency of an allele
within a population over time. ... A population of rabbits can
have brown fur and white fur with brown fur being the
dominant allele. By random chance, the offspring may all be
brown and this could reduce or eliminate the allele for white
fur.
4. Natural selection is the process through which populations
of living organisms adapt and change. Individuals in a
population are naturally variable, meaning that they are all
different in some ways. This variation means that some
individuals have traits better suited to the environment than
others.
5. A mutation is a change in a DNA sequence. Mutations
can result from DNA copying mistakes made during cell
division, exposure to ionizing radiation, exposure to
chemicals called mutagens, or infection by viruses.
 The mutation are rare but they add new alleles to the
gene pool and also provide new genetic information and
increase genetic diversity.
 It provide raw material for evolution.