Physico-chemical constraints connected with the coding properties of the genetic system.

New insights on the origin of the genetic code, based on the analysis of the physico-chemical properties of its molecular constituents (RNA and amino acids), are reported in this paper. We point out a symmetry in the genetic code table and show that it can be explained by the nature of the anticodon-codon interaction. The importance of the strength of this interaction is examined and a correlation is found between the free-energy change (DeltaG(0)) of anticodon-codon association and the volume of the corresponding amino acids. This correlation is investigated in conjunction with the well-known one linking the hydrophobicity of the anticodons with that of the amino acids. We show that they can be considerated separately and that the energy vs. volume correlation may be explained by the process implicating the peptide bond formation between two successive amino acids during translation. This interpretation is supported by a statistical pattern of bases (purines or pyrimidines), observed in present coding genes, and by considerations involving the availability of the different kinds of amino acids. Finally, we try to explain the hydrophobicity correlation when reconstructing the events at the time of the so-called "RNA World". The whole of our investigation shows that the genetic code might be sufficiently robust to exist without the participation of pre-existing proteins, and that this robustness is a consequence of the physico-chemical properties of the four bases of the genetic system. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.