Premature Stop Codon

A Premature Stop Codon is a sequence mutation type (such as a Frameshift Mutation) that results in the coding of a Stop Codon prematurely in the reading frame.

Frequency

Premature Stop Codons are common in sequence mutations as 3 out of the 64 Codons in the Universal Codon Code programme for a Stop Codon. Coupling this with the often random nature of sequence mutations, this generates an average Premature Stop Codon creation of 1 in every 20 Codon mutations, a very common frequency within the already small Mutation Frequency of even simple Prokaryotic life, let alone higher Eukaryotes.

Consequences of Premature Stop Codons

The addition of an unwanted Stop Codon cuts a Ribosome's process of Polypeptide Synthesis along an mRNA Strangd short, resulting in fragmented incomplete Polypeptide strands. These fragmented Polypeptide strands do not undergo succesful structural folding to form the appropriate Secondary, Tertiary and even Quaternary Structures of the originally-intented Protein, typically creating stumped or Truncated Proteins which often affects the function of the protein by various pathways.