occurrence of the TAG stop codon, which is often the minimally used stop codon in a genome, is not influenced by the GC-content. Recognition Recognition of stop codons in bacteria have been associated with the so-called 'tripeptide anticodon', a highly conserved amino acid motif in RF1 (PxT) and RF2 (SPF). Even though this is supported by structural studies, it was shown that the tripeptide anticodon hypothesis is an oversimplification. Nomenclature Stop codons were historically given many different names, as they each corresponded to a distinct class of mutants that all behaved in a similar manner. These mutants were first isolated within bacteriophages (T4 and lambda), viruses that infect the bacteria Escherichia coli. Mutations in viral genes weakened their infectious ability, sometimes creating viruses that were able to infect and grow within only certain varieties of E. coli. amber mutations (UAG) They were the first set of nonsense mutations to be discovered, isolated by Richard H. Epstein and Charles Steinberg and named after their friend and graduate Caltech student Harris Bernstein, whose last name means "amber" in German (cf. Bernstein). Viruses with amber mutations are characterized by their ability to infect only certain strains of bacteria, known as amber suppressors. These bacteria carry their own mutation that allows a recovery of function in the mutant viruses. For example, a mutation in the tRNA that recognizes the amber stop codon allows translation to "read through" the codon and produce a full-length protein, thereby recovering the normal form of the protein and "suppressing" the amber mutation. Thus, amber mutants are an entire class of virus mutants that can grow in bacteria that contain amber suppressor mutations. Similar suppressors are known for ochre and opal stop codons as well. tRNA molecules carrying unnatural aminoacids have been designed to recognize the amber stop codon in bacterial RNA. This technology allows for incorporation of orthogonal aminoacids (such as p-azidophenylalanine) at specific locations of the target protein. ochre mutations (UAA) It was the second stop codon mutation to be discovered. Reminiscent of the usual yellow-orange-brown color associated with amber, this second stop codon was given the name of "ochre", an orange-reddish-brown mineral pigment. Ochre mutant viruses had a property similar to amber mutants in that they recovered infectious ability within certain suppressor strains of bacteria. The set of ochre suppressors was distinct from amber suppressors, so ochre mutants were inferred to correspond to a different nucleotide triplet.