Chlamydomonas chloroplast 51 codon compression study

Genome scale engineering has enabled codon compression of the universal genetic code of up to three codons in E. coli, providing the means for genetic code expansion. To go much beyond this number, smaller and simpler genetic systems are needed to avoid significant technical challenges. Chloroplast genomes offer multiple advantages for codon compression and reassignment. Here we report a recoding scheme for the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplast genome, in which two stop codons and one or more of the codons for arginine, glycine, isoleucine, leucine and serine, all of which have two cognate tRNAs, are absent, compressing the genetic code to 51 codons.