CGD Help: Non-standard Genetic Codes



Candida albicans and related species use a non-standard genetic code to translate nuclear genes. In these species, called the 'CTG clade' as a group, the CUG codon encodes the amino acid serine instead of leucine, as in the standard code. This code is generally referred to as "Translation table 12: Alternative Yeast Nuclear Code." Note that Candida glabrata, which is more closely related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae than other Candida species, uses the standard genetic code ("Translation table 1") for nuclear genes.

Many eukaryotes use non-standard codes to translate mitochondrial genes. Most fungi, including Candida albicans and related species, use "Translation table 4: The Mold, Protozoan, and Coelenterate Mitochondrial Code and the Mycoplasma/Spiroplasma Code", while Saccharomyces and closely related species (including Candida glabrata) use "Translation table 3: The Yeast Mitochondrial Code."

For a complete description of all the translation tables, see NCBI's Genetic Codes page.

The table below shows the nuclear and mitochondrial codes for all organisms available at CGD, as well as some other common organisms.

Organism Nuclear Mitochondrial
CGD species
Candida albicans 12 4
Candida dubliniensis 12 4
Candida glabrata 1 3
Candida guilliermondii 12 4
Candida lusitaniae 12 4
Candida parapsilosis 12 4
Candida tropicalis 12 4
Debaryomyces hansenii 12 4
Lodderomyces elongisporus 12 4
Other Fungi
Saccharomyces cerevisiae 1 3
Aspergillus nidulans 1 4
Neurospora crassa 1 4
Schizosaccharomyces pombe 1 4
Other species of interest
Homo sapiens 1 2
Drosophila melanogaster 1 5
Caenorhabditis elegans 1 5
Arabidopsis thaliana 1 1
Oryza sativa 1 1
Escherichia coli 11 NA



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