Frameshift and wild-type proteins are often highly similar because the genetic code and genomes were optimized for frameshift tolerance.

ABSTRACT: Frameshift mutations have been considered of significant importance for the molecular evolution of proteins and their coding genes, while frameshift protein sequences encoded in the alternative reading frames of coding genes have been considered to be meaningless. However, functional frameshifts have been found widely existing. It was puzzling how a frameshift protein kept its structure and functionality while substantial changes occurred in its primary amino-acid sequence. This study shows that the similarities among frameshifts and wild types are higher than random similarities and are determined at different levels. Frameshift substitutions are more conservative than random substitutions in the standard genetic code (SGC). The frameshift substitutions score of SGC ranks in the top 2.0-3

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9164415 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature