Led by Stowers Predoctoral Researcher Luciana Castellano in the lab of Associate Investigator Ariel Bazzini, Ph.D., the study, published in Molecular Systems Biology on July 22, 2024, revealed that the dengue virus genome uses less efficient codons, or „vocabulary,“ to make its own proteins using the host’s machinery to replicate, and spread.
A codon is a sequence of three nucleotides, or „words“ in the genetic code that help make proteins. The researchers found that hundreds of other viruses also use „words“ in their genetic code that are less efficient in their mosquito and human hosts.
The researchers found that dengue virus tends to use synonymous codons that are deemed less optimal in their mosquito and human hosts, contrary to their original prediction.
