Natural Selection Plays an Important Role in Shaping the Codon Usage of Structural Genes of the Viruses Belonging to the Coronaviridae Family

• Published in: Viruses Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 3
• Main Authors: Nyayanit, Dimpal A., Yadav, Pragya D., Kharde, Rutuja, Cherian, Sarah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI 22.12.2020; MDPI AG
• Subjects: Algorithms; Base Composition; Biological Evolution; cell viability; Codon; Codon Usage; codon usage bias; Coronaviridae; Coronaviridae - genetics; Evolution, Molecular; Humans; messenger RNA; Models, Genetic; Mutation; mutational selection; natural selection; Selection, Genetic; Viral Structural Proteins - genetics; viruses; natural selection; Coronaviridae; mutational selection; codon usage bias

Viruses belonging to the Coronaviridae family have a single-stranded positive-sense RNA with a poly-A tail. The genome has a length of ~29.9 kbps, which encodes for genes that are essential for cell survival and replication. Different evolutionary constraints constantly influence the codon usage bia...