Under the genetic code is commonly understood as a system of signs indicating the location of the serial connections nucleotides DNKa and RNKa, which corresponds to another sign system that displays the sequence of amino acid compounds in the protein molecule.
This is important!
When the scientists were able to study the properties of the genetic code, one of the key has been recognized versatility.Yes, as strange as it sounds, all living organisms are united by a single, universal, a common genetic code.It was formed over a long time period, and the process is ended about 3.5 billion years ago.Consequently, in the structure of the code can be traced traces its evolution from its inception until today.
When we speak of the elements in the sequence of the genetic code, meaning that it is not chaotic, but has a strictly defined order.And it is also largely determines the properties of the genetic code.This is equivalent to the location of letters and syllables in words.It is necessary to break the usual order, and most of what we read in the book or newspaper pages, turn into ridiculous gibberish.
The main properties of the genetic code
usually carries the code any information encoded in a special way.In order to decrypt the genetic code, it is necessary to know the distinctive features.
So, the basic properties of the genetic code - is:
- triplet;
- degeneracy or redundancy;
- uniqueness;
- continuity;
- already mentioned versatility.
dwell on each property.
1. triplet
This is when the three compounds form a coherent chain of nucleotides in nucleic acid molecules (ie, DNA or RNA).As a result, the connection is created or triplet codon.This codon encodes one of the amino acids, a place of its location in the chain peptides.
Distinguish codons (also known as code words!) Of their order and connection type of the nitrogenous compounds (nucleotides) that are included in their composition.
In genetics decided to allocate 64 codon type.They may form a combination of four types of nucleotides at each 3.This is equivalent to the construction of the number 4 in the third degree.Thus, the formation of 64-nucleotide combinations.
2. The redundancy of the genetic code
This property can be traced when to encrypt a single amino acid codon requires several, usually within 2-6.Only the amino acid methionine and tryptophan may be encoded using one triplet.
3. The uniqueness
It is part of the properties of the genetic code as an indicator of a healthy genetic heredity.For example, a good condition of blood, a normal hemoglobin can tell doctors standing in sixth place in the chain of the triplet GAA.It was he who carries information about hemoglobin, and they also encoded glutamic acid.And if a person is sick anemia, one of the nucleotide is replaced by another letter code - Y, which is the signal of the disease.
4. Continuity
When recording of the properties of the genetic code, it should be remembered that the codons, as links in the chain are not placed at a distance and in direct proximity to each other in the nucleic acid chain and the chain is not interrupted - there is nobeginning or end.
5. Versatility
should never forget that all things in the world united by a common genetic code.And because in primates and humans from insects and birds, and nearly a century of baobab hatched out of the ground grass identical triplets encoded amino acids are similar.
It lies in the genes of the basic information about the properties of an organism, a kind of program that the body receives an inheritance from the past and who lived there as a genetic code.
