The factors shaping synonymous codon usage in the genome of Burkholderia mallei.

Burkholderia mallei is regarded as a potential biological weapon by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In this study, the main factors shaping codon usage in the genome of B. mallei ATCC 23344 were firstly reported. The results showed that the primary trend in codon usage variation in the B. mallei is due to translational selection; while compositional mutation bias is relatively the weaker influence and the hydrophobicity of each protein and gene length are only the minor influences. At the same time, 21 codons defined firstly as 'optimal codons' might provide more useful information for the expression of target genes and development of a vaccine to prevent glanders.