As experts in synthetic DNA, we understand the importance of accurate gene synthesis and its subsequent expression, particularly in heterologous systems. A multitude of factors, including codon bias, can affect the transcriptional and translational efficiency of a gene in a host organism. GENEWIZ’s codon optimization tool considers these critical factors to produce codon optimized gene sequences for efficient expression in almost all host systems.
Codons represent the genetic code that transfers information from genes to mRNA to protein. Both redundancy and evolutionary constraints, including the availability of tRNA isoacceptors, TATA box, Shine-Dalgarno sequences, and more, result in preferential usage of one codon over another for the same amino acid. This phenomenon is known as codon bias.
Codon optimization is a process used to improve gene expression and increase the translational efficiency of a gene of interest by accommodating codon bias of the host organism.
Figure 1: Schematic representation of protein expression
GENEWIZ’s codon optimization algorithm optimizes key parameters to stabilize DNA sequences and improve gene expression. GENEWIZ has been offering codon optimization since 2010, and our algorithm is frequently updated and improved based on empirical data to address the following parameters:
We performed a comparative expression analysis of wild-type (WT) and GENEWIZ optimized (GW) gene sequences transformed into E. coli. Three different protein coding genes (HSD17B4, DNA pol, and hRad51) were selected for codon optimization. Protein expression level for WT and GENEWIZ optimized sequences are shown in adjacent lanes. For each protein, GENEWIZ codon optimized sequences resulted in significantly higher protein expression levels compared to wild-type sequences.
Conclusion:
For each protein, GENEWIZ codon-optimized
sequences resulted in significantly
higher protein expression levels
compared to wild-type sequences
when expressed in E. coli.