Local Absence of Secondary Structure Permits Translation of mRNAs that Lack Ribosome-Binding Sites
Figure 5
Comparison of the minimum free energy (MFE) values of start codons, in-frame AUG codons, and out-of-frame AUG triplets in the Escherichia coli genome.
The middle line in the box is the median, the next two are the 1st and 3rd quartiles, the whiskers extend to 1.5 times the interquartile range of the box. Outliers are indicated by open circles. The outlier in the start codon group is the MFE value for the start codon of trmD (see text for details). Three in-frame AUGs (filled black circles) of murC, metG and trmD, respectively, were singled out for their close proximity and MFE to the start codon. Based on the low amount of structure around them, these AUGs are candidates for alternative translation initiation sites.