Messenger RNA (mRNA) stability and translational efficiency are two crucial aspects of the post-transcriptional process that profoundly impact protein production in a cell. While it is widely known that ribosomes produce proteins, studies during the past decade have surprisingly revealed that ribosomes also control mRNA stability in a codon-dependent manner, a process referred to as codon optimality. Therefore, codons, the three-nucleotide words read by the ribosome, have a potent effect on mRNA stability and provide cis -regulatory information that extends beyond the amino acids they encode. While the codon optimality molecular mechanism is still unclear, the translation elongation rate appears to trigger mRNA decay. Thus, transfer RNAs emerge as potential master gene regulators affecting mRNA stability. Furthermore, while few factors related to codon optimality have been identified in yeast, the orthologous genes in vertebrates do not necessary share the same functions. Here, we discuss codon optimality findings and gene regulation layers related to codon composition in different eukaryotic species.

中文翻译：

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翻译和 mRNA 稳定性控制

信使 RNA (mRNA) 稳定性和翻译效率是转录后过程的两个关键方面，深刻影响细胞中蛋白质的产生。虽然众所周知核糖体产生蛋白质，但过去十年的研究令人惊讶地发现核糖体还以密码子依赖性方式控制 mRNA 稳定性，这一过程称为密码子最优性。因此，密码子（核糖体读取的三核苷酸单词）对 mRNA 稳定性具有强大的影响，并提供超出其编码氨基酸范围的顺式调节信息。虽然密码子最优性分子机制仍不清楚，但翻译延伸率似乎会触发 mRNA 衰减。因此，转移 RNA 成为影响 mRNA 稳定性的潜在主基因调节因子。此外，虽然在酵母中几乎没有发现与密码子最优性相关的因素，但脊椎动物中的直系同源基因不一定具有相同的功能。在这里，我们讨论不同真核物种中与密码子组成相关的密码子最优性发现和基因调控层。