Di Giulio M, Medugno M
International Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, CNR, Via G. Marconi 10, 80125 Naples, Napoli, Italy.
J Mol Evol. 2000 Mar;50(3):258-63. doi: 10.1007/s002399910030.
A paper (Amirnovin R, J Mol Evol 44:473-476, 1997) seems to undermine the validity of the coevolution theory of genetic code origin by shedding doubt on the connection between the biosynthetic relationships between amino acids and the organization of the genetic code, at a time when the literature on the topic takes this for granted. However, as a few papers cite this paper as evidence against the coevolution theory, and to cast aside all doubt on the subject, we have decided to reanalyze the statistical bases on which this theory is founded. We come to the following conclusions: (1) the methods used in the above referred paper contain certain mistakes, and (2) the statistical foundations on which the coevolution theory is based are extremely robust. We have done this by critically appraising Amirnovin's paper and suggesting an alternative method based on the generation of random codes which, along with the method reported in the literature, allows us to evaluate the significance, in the genetic code, of different sets of amino acid pairs in biosynthetic relationships. In particular, by using this method and after building up a certain set of amino acid pairs reflecting the expectations of the coevolution theory, we show that the presence of this set in the genetic code would be obtained, purely by chance, with a probability of 6x10(-5). This observation seems to provide particularly strong support to the coevolution theory.
一篇论文（Amirnovin R，《分子进化杂志》44：473 - 476，1997年）似乎对遗传密码起源的共同进化理论的有效性提出了质疑，它对氨基酸之间的生物合成关系与遗传密码的组织之间的联系表示怀疑，而当时关于该主题的文献都视此为理所当然。然而，由于有几篇论文引用这篇论文作为反对共同进化理论的证据，为了消除对此问题的所有疑虑，我们决定重新分析该理论所基于的统计基础。我们得出以下结论：（1）上述论文中使用的方法存在某些错误，（2）共同进化理论所基于的统计基础极其可靠。我们通过批判性地评估Amirnovin的论文并提出一种基于生成随机密码的替代方法来做到这一点，该方法与文献中报道的方法一起，使我们能够评估遗传密码中不同氨基酸对生物合成关系集的重要性。特别是，通过使用这种方法并构建了一组反映共同进化理论预期的氨基酸对后，我们表明该集合在遗传密码中的出现纯粹是偶然的，概率为6×10⁻⁵。这一观察结果似乎为共同进化理论提供了特别有力的支持。
