Amino Acids and Codons – Code Organization and Protein Structure

This chapter contains sections titled: Basic Features and Adaptive Nature of the Universal Genetic Code Metabolism and Intracellular Uptake of Canonical Amino Acids Physicochemical Properties of Canonical Amino Acids Reasons for the Occurrence of Only 20 Amino Acids in the Genetic Code What Properties of Amino Acids are Best Preserved by the Genetic Code? Evolutionary Legacy: Dual Nature of Conserved Code and Finite Number of Protein Folds Natural Variations in Assignment of Codons of the Universal Genetic Code Nucleoside Modifications and Codon Reassignments Codon Reassignment Concepts Possibly Relevant to Code Engineering Genome Size, Composition, Complexity and Codon Reassignments Stop Codon Takeover, Codon Capture and Codon Ambiguity References