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  • Current: Jul 9, 2021

CDS, coding sequence

A CDS (CoDing Sequence) is region of DNA or RNA that codes for a protein.

In contrast to a CDS, an open reading frame (ORF) is determined simply by sequence no matter whether the region actually endoces a protein or not. Therefore, all CDSs are ORFs, but not vice versa [1].

Open reading frame

Figure cited from [2].



Definitions in the literature

  • A CoDing Sequence (CDS) is a region of DNA or RNA whose sequence determines the sequence of amino acids in a protein. It should not be mixed up with an Open Reading Frame (ORF), which is a continuous stretch of DNA codons that begins with a start codon and ends at a STOP codon. All CDS are ORFs, but not all ORFs are CDS... [1].