Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34383940›Full record

ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2021

Is the Genetic Code Optimized for Resource Conservation?

Haiqing Xu, Jianzhi Zhang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Haiqing XuDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Jianzhi ZhangDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6141-1290

Funding

Genomic and Systemic Approaches to Evolutionary MechanismsR35GM139484 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI JIANZHI ZHANG · 2021 to 2026
$3.2M
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM139484U.S. National Institutes of Health R35GM139484
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The causes and consequences of the nonrandom structure of the standard genetic code (SGC) have been of long-standing interest. A recent study reported that mutations in present-day protein-coding sequences are less likely to increase proteomic nitrogen and carbon uses under the SGC than under random genetic codes, concluding that the SGC has been selectively optimized for resource conservation. If true, this finding might offer important information on the environment in which the SGC and some of the earliest life forms evolved. However, we here show that the hypothesis of optimization of a genetic code for resource conservation is theoretically untenable. We discover that the aforementioned study estimated the expected mutational effect by inappropriately excluding mutations lowering resource consumptions and including mutations involving stop codons. After remedying these problems, we find no evidence that the SGC is optimized for nitrogen or carbon conservation.

Indexed as

Evolution, MolecularProteomicsCodonGenetic CodeModels, GeneticOpen Reading FramesCodoncarbonevolutionmutationnitrogensecond-order selection

Identifiers

PMID34383940
PMCPMC8557414

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.