Meanings
plural frameshifts
- countableuncountableA frameshift mutation.
present singular third person frameshifts · participle present frameshifting · participle past frameshifted · past frameshifted
- To use a starting point for translating a series of nucleotides that is off by an amount not divisible by three, resulting in an entirely distinct set of codons.
Commonly, there are stimulatory signals in mRNA distinct from the shift site that greatly increase the level of frameshifting at the shift site.
2003, Jacques Lapointe, Lea Brakier-Gigras, Translation Mechanisms, →ISBN, page 3542 more examples
Considering these costs, it seems likely that mechanisms may exist to stop frameshifted translation as soon as possible, depending on the frequency of occurrence.
2004, DNA and Cell Biology - Volume 23, page 702Ribosomal frameshifting at a particular site can yield two protein products from one coding sequence or one protein product from two overlapping open reading frames.
2006, De-Shuang Huang, George William Irwin, Computational Intelligence and Bioinformatics, →ISBN
Origin
Cite this entry
frameshift. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frameshift
“frameshift.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frameshift. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “frameshift,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/frameshift.
Source: frameshift on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.