The Fine Structure of the Transcriptome: Does It Reflect the Inverse Symmetry of the Genome?

Whereas the CoHSI-predicted Zipfian distribution of <i>k</i>-mer frequencies was observed in both the protein-coding and non-coding RNAs of 53 species, in contrast the compliance with inverse symmetry was weaker. This weakening of compliance was seen to a greater extent in the CDS than in the non-coding portions of the transcriptome and may be associated with the necessity to maintain the integrity of the reading frame in the CDS. These results illustrate the general principle that local perturbations of an overall CoHSI-guided equilibrium state of a biological system can provide insight into the underlying causes of such perturbations.