Protein coding sequences/Overview

Protein coding sequences are DNA sequences that are transcribed into mRNA and in which the corresponding mRNA molecules are translated into a polypeptide chain. Every three nucleotides, termed a codon, in a protein coding sequence encodes 1 amino acid in the polypeptide chain. In some cases, different chassis may either map a given codon to a different sequence or may use different codons more or less frequently. Therefore some protein coding sequences may be optimized for use in a particular chassis.

In the Registry, protein coding sequences begin with a start codon (usually ATG) and end with a stop codon (usually with a double stop codon TAA TAA). Protein coding sequences are often abbreviated with the acronym CDS.

Although protein coding sequences are often considered to be basic parts, in fact proteins coding sequences can themselves be composed of one or more regions, called protein domains. Thus, a protein coding sequence could either be entered as a basic part or as a composite part of two or more protein domains.

  1. The N-terminal domain of a protein coding sequence is special in a number of ways. First, it always contains a start codon, spaced at an appropriate distance from a ribosomal binding site. Second, many coding regions have special features at the N terminus, such as protein export tags and lipoprotein cleavage and attachment tags. These occur at the beginning of a coding region, and therefore are termed Head domains.
  2. A protein domain is a sequence of amino acids which fold relatively independently and which are evolutionarily shuffled as a unit among different protein coding regions. The DNA sequence of such domains must maintain in-frame translation, and thus is a multiple of three bases. Since these protein domains are within a protein coding sequence, they are called Internal domains. Certain Internal domains have particular functions in protein cleavage or splicing and are termed Special Internal domains.
  3. Similarly, the C-terminal domain of a protein is special, containing at least a stop codon. Other special features, such as degradation tags, are also required to be at the extreme C-terminus. Again, these domains cannot function when internal to a coding region, and are termed Tail domains.

For more details on protein domains including how to assemble protein domains into protein coding sequences, please see Protein domains.


Protein coding sequences should be as follows

GAATTC GCGGCCGC T TCTAG [ATG ... TAA TAA] T ACTAGT A GCGGCCG CTGCAG