In molecular biology, a reading frame is a way of dividing the sequence of nucleotides in a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) molecule into a set of consecutive, non-overlapping triplets. Where these triplets equate to amino acids or stop signals during translation, they are called codons.
A single strand of a nucleic acid molecule has a phosphoryl end, (called the 5′-end) and a hydroxyl, or (3′-end). These then define the 5'→3' direction. There are three reading frames that can be read in this 5'→3' direction, each beginning from a different nucleotide in a triplet. In a double stranded nucleic acid, an additional three reading frames may be read from the other, complementary strand in the 5'→3' direction along this strand. As the two strands of a double stranded nucleic acid molecule are antiparallel, the 5'→3' direction on the second strand corresponds to the 3'→5' direction along the first strand.
In general, at most one reading frame in a given section of a nucleic acid is biologically relevant.
Read more about Reading Frame: Transcription, Translation, Multiple Reading Frames, Open Reading Frame
Other articles related to "reading frame, frame, reading":
... frameshift mutation, an alteration in the normal reading frame of a gene, results if the number of inserted nucleotides is not divisible by three, i.e ... In-frame insertions occur when the reading frame is not altered as a result of the insertion the number of inserted nucleotides is divisible by three ... The reading frame remains intact after the insertion and translation will most likely run to completion if the inserted nucleotides do not code for a stop codon ...
... An open reading frame (ORF) is a reading frame that contains a start codon, and a subsequent region which usually has a length which is a multiple of 3 nucleotides, but does not contain a stop ...
... Proteins are translated unidirectionally by reading tri-nucleotides on the mRNA strand also known as codons ... of any number of nucleotides that is not divisible by 3 in the reading frame will result in subsequent codons to be read differently ... This effectively changes the ribosomal reading frame ...
... SNRPN upstream reading frame protein is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SNURF gene ... The evolutionarily constrained open reading frame is found on a bicistronic transcript which has a downstream ORF encoding the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein ...
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