Open AccessSymmetry characteristics of the genetic code.
Author(s) -
G. L. Findley,
Ann M. Findley,
S. P. McGlynn
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.79.22.7061
Subject(s) - genetic code , relation (database) , symmetry (geometry) , unification , code (set theory) , context (archaeology) , principal (computer security) , computer science , theoretical physics , genetics , physics , programming language , mathematics , biology , dna , data mining , geometry , paleontology , set (abstract data type) , operating system
The symmetric pattern of codon degeneracies is discussed by using empirical arguments processed within a group-theoretic framework. It is reasoned that the genetic code is a relation rather than a mapping, and the symmetry of a relation defined on the codons is investigated. The principal results are (i) a new extraction of the basic symmetry inherent in the standard genetic code; (ii) the unification of the symmetry of ambiguous codon assignments with that of the standard genetic code; and (iii) the primacy of the concept of a biological context as that device which degenerates the code relation to a mapping.