Genetic code evolution started with the incorporation of glycine, followed by other small hydrophilic amino acids.

Abstract

We propose that glycine was the first amino acid to be incorporated into the genetic code, followed by serine, aspartic and/or glutamic acid-small hydrophilic amino acids that all have codons in the bottom right-hand corner of the standard genetic code table. Because primordial ribosomal synthesis is presumed to have been rudimentary, this stage would have been characterized by the synthesis of short, water-soluble peptides, the first of which would have comprised polyglycine. Evolution of the code is proposed to have occurred by the duplication and mutation of tRNA sequences, which produced a radiation of codon assignment outwards from the bottom right-hand corner. As a result of this expansion, we propose a trend from small hydrophilic to hydrophobic amino acids, with selection for longer polypeptides requiring a hydrophobic core for folding and stability driving the incorporation of hydrophobic amino acids into the code.