A GUIDE TO THE TWENTY COMMON AMINO ACIDS

AMINO ACIDS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF PROTEINS IN LIVING ORGANISMS. THERE ARE OVER 500 AMINO ACIDS FOUND IN NATURE - HOWEVER, THE HUMAN GENETIC CODE
ONLY DIRECTLY ENCODES 20. ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS MUST BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIET, WHILST NON-ESSENTIAL AMINO ACIDS CAN BE SYNTHESISED IN THE BODY.

Chart Key:

ALIPHATIC

AROMATIC

ACIDIC

Chemical
Structure

HYDROXYLIC

H3N

NON-ESSENTIAL

AMIDIC

O
O

NH2

NH3

NH3

ESSENTIAL

O
O

NH3

SULFUR-CONTAINING

(at physiological pH)

single letter
code

BASIC

NH3

NAME A

Alanine A

Glycine G

ISOLEUCINE I

LEUCINE L

PROLINE P

VALINE V

DNA codons

GCT, GCC, GCA, GCG

GGT, GGC, GGA, GGG

ATT, ATC, ATA

CTT, CTC, CTA, CTG, TTA, TTG

CCT, CCC, CCA, CCG

GTT, GTC, GTA, GTG

three letter code

Ala

Gly

H
N

Ile

NH3

NH3

NH3

HO

Leu

O
O

Pro

H2N

NH3

NH3

NH2

Val

N
H

O
NH3

H
N

O
NH3

HN

PHENYLALANINE F

TRYPTOPHAN W

TYROSINE Y

ASPARTIC ACID D

GLUTAMIC ACID E

ARGININE R

HISTIDINE H

TTT, TTC

TGG

TAT, TAC

GAT, GAC

GAA, GAG

CGT, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, AGG

CAT, CAC

Phe

Trp

H3N

O
NH3

OH

HO

Tyr

Glu

O
NH3

Asp

NH3

HS

Arg

O
NH3

His

O
NH3

H2N

O
O

H2N

O
NH3

NH3

LYSINE K

SERINE S
Ser

THREONINE T

CYSTEINE C

METHIONINE M

ASPARAGINE N

GLUTAMINE Q

Lys

AAA, AAG

TCT, TCC, TCA, TCG, AGT, AGC

ACT, ACC, ACA, ACG

TGT, TGC

ATG

AAT, AAC

CAA, CAG

Thr

Cys

Met

Asn

Gln

Note: This chart only shows those amino acids for which the human genetic code directly codes for. Selenocysteine is often referred to as the 21st amino acid, but is encoded in a special manner.
In some cases, distinguishing between asparagine/aspartic acid and glutamine/glutamic acid is difficult. In these cases, the codes asx (B) and glx (Z) are respectively used.

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