Analysis of Codon Usage Patterns in Herbaceous Peony (Paeonia lactiflora Pall.) Based on Transcriptome Data

Genes

Yanqing Wu²  Daqiu Zhao²  Jun Tao¹ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology of Jiangsu Province, College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Yangzhou University, WenHui East Street 48, Yangzhou 225009, China;

关键词: herbaceous peony (P. lactiflora);    codon usage bias;    transcriptome;   

DOI  :  10.3390/genes6041125

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Codon usage bias, which exists in many genomes, is mainly determined by mutation and selection. To elucidate the genetic features and evolutionary history of herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora), a well-known symbol of prosperity in China, we examined synonymous codon usage in 24,216 reconstructed genes from the P. lactiflora transcriptome. The mean GC content was 44.4%, indicating that the nucleotide content of P. lactiflora genes is slightly AT rich and GC poor. The P. lactiflora genome has a wide range of GC3 (GC content at the third synonymous codon position) distribution, with a significant correlation between GC12 and GC3. ENC (effective number of codons) analysis suggested that mutational bias played a major role in shaping codon usage. Parity Rule 2 (PR2) analysis revealed that GC and AU were not used proportionally. We identified 22 “optimal codons”, most ending with an A or U. Our results suggested that nucleotide composition mutation bias and translational selection were the main driving factors of codon usage bias in P. lactiflora. These results lay the foundation for exploring the evolutionary mechanisms and heterologous expression of functionally-important proteins in P. lactiflora.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.