Correlation between codon usage and thermostability.

Variations of arginine codon usage between organisms may have important implications to thermostability. The preferential usage of AGR codons for arginine in thermophiles and hyperthermophiles implies positive error minimization, contributing to avoid mutations that could harm protein thermostability. This bias is not a mere consequence of increased G + C content, as it has been previously suggested, and may represent a new mechanism of adaptation to protein thermostability.