Synonymous substitutions are clustered in enterobacterial genes

✍ Scribed by Adam Eyre-Walker

• Book ID: 104651337
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 346 KB
• Volume: 39
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-2844
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00173413

✦ Synopsis

The spatial distribution of synonymous substitutions in enterobacterial genes is investigated. It is shown that synonymous substitutions are significantly clustered in such a way that a synonymous substitution in one codon elevates the rate of synonymous substitution in an adjacent codon by about 10%. The level of clustering does not appear to be related to the level of gene expression, and it is restricted to a range of two or three codons. There are at least three possible explanations: (1) sequence-directed mutagenesis, (2) recombination, and (3) selection.