PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Simone Giannerini
AU  - Alberto Danielli
AU  - Diego Luis Gonzalez
AU  - Greta Goracci
TI  - A role for circular code properties in translation
AID  - 10.1101/2020.09.28.317016
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.09.28.317016
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/30/2020.09.28.317016.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/09/30/2020.09.28.317016.full
AB  - Circular codes represent a form of coding allowing detection/correction of frameshift errors. Building on recent theoretical advances on circular codes, we provide evidence that protein coding sequences exhibit in-frame circular code marks, that are absent in introns and are intimately linked to the keto-amino transformation of codon bases. These properties strongly correlate with translation speed, codon influence and protein expression levels. Strikingly, circular code marks are absent at the beginning of coding sequences, but stably occur 40 codons after the initiator codon, hinting at the translation elongation process. Finally, we use the lens of circular codes to show that codon influence on translation correlates with the strong-weak dichotomy of the first two bases of the codon. The results provide promising universal tools for sequence indicators and sequence optimization for bioinformatics and biotechnological applications, and can shed light on the molecular mechanisms behind the decoding process.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.