Codons and nearest-neighbor nucleotide pairs in mammalian messenger RNA

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Abstract
The codons in four mammalian messenger RNAs (rabbitβ hemoglobin, rat pre-proinsulin, rat pre-growth hormone and human chorionic somatomammotropin) show a predominance of C and G in third nucleotide positions. The C:U ratio is about 2 to 1, and the G:A ratio is about 4 to 1. The possibility is discussed that this disproportionality resulted from DNA replicative errors that favor C·G pairs over A·T pairs, as found in theE.coli mut T strain. “Nearest neighbor” base pairs (“doublets”) in the protien-coding regions ofφX174 and in four mammalian mRNAs have been compared. Mammalian mRNA has a low content of CpG in comparison with expectations from its C and G content.