It has been 50 years since Francis Crick, Leslie Barnett, Sydney Brenner, and Richard Watts-Tobin first deduced the nature of the genetic code, revealing how a gene’s nucleotide sequence is related to the encoded protein’s amino acid sequence. Essential to cracking the code was the premise that the genetic code is degenerate: as there are 64 possible codons (i.e., nucleotide triplets) and only 20 standard amino acids, some amino acids must be specified by multiple codons. One consequence of this degeneracy is that some mutations alter DNA sequences without changing the underlying protein sequence. Although it was long believed that these “synonymous” mutations were effectively neutral, half a century later, genome-wide analyses have begun to reveal both the evolutionary forces that shape synonymous mutations as well as their potential phenotypic effects. In a new Special Section titled “Phenotypic Effects of Synonymous Mutations,” guest editors Stéphanie Bedhomme and Ignacio Bravo have gathered four articles that compile some of the mechanisms through which synonymous mutations can result in phenotypic effects. In addition, an accompanying virtual issue highlights an additional eight articles on this topic published in “Genome Biology and Evolution” over the past three years, providing an even broader look at recent insights in this growing field.

中文翻译：

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同义但不相等：关于同义突变的表型效应的一个特殊部分和虚拟问题

自 Francis Crick、Leslie Barnett、Sydney Brenner 和 Richard Watts-Tobin 首次推断出遗传密码的性质，揭示基因的核苷酸序列如何与编码蛋白质的氨基酸序列相关以来，已有 50 年了。破解密码的前提是遗传密码是简并的：因为有 64 个可能的密码子（即核苷酸三联体）和只有 20 个标准氨基酸，一些氨基酸必须由多个密码子指定。这种简并性的一个后果是一些突变改变了 DNA 序列而不改变潜在的蛋白质序列。尽管长期以来人们认为这些“同义”突变实际上是中性的，但半个世纪之后，全基因组分析已经开始揭示形成同义突变的进化力量及其潜在的表型效应。在题为“同义突变的表型效应”的新特辑中，客座编辑 Stéphanie Bedhomme 和 Ignacio Bravo 收集了四篇文章，汇编了同义突变导致表型效应的一些机制。此外，随附的虚拟问题重点介绍了过去三年在“基因组生物学与进化”上发表的关于该主题的另外八篇文章，提供了对这个不断发展的领域的最新见解的更广泛的了解。”客座编辑 Stéphanie Bedhomme 和 Ignacio Bravo 收集了四篇文章，汇编了同义突变导致表型效应的一些机制。此外，随附的虚拟问题重点介绍了过去三年在“基因组生物学与进化”上发表的关于该主题的另外八篇文章，提供了对这个不断发展的领域的最新见解的更广泛的了解。”客座编辑 Stéphanie Bedhomme 和 Ignacio Bravo 收集了四篇文章，汇编了同义突变导致表型效应的一些机制。此外，随附的虚拟问题重点介绍了过去三年在“基因组生物学与进化”上发表的关于该主题的另外八篇文章，提供了对这个不断发展的领域的最新见解的更广泛的了解。