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Despite the variations that exist, the genetic codes used by all known forms of life on Earth are very similar. Since there are many possible genetic codes that are thought to have similar utility to the one used by Earth life, the theory of evolution suggests that the genetic code was established very early in […]
While slight variations on the standard code had been predicted earlier, none were discovered until 1979, when researchers studying human mitochondrial genes discovered they used an alternative code. Many slight variants have been discovered since,[including various alternative mitochondrial codes, as well as small variants such as Mycoplasma translating the codon UGA as tryptophan. In bacteria […]
The genetic code has redundancy but no ambiguity. For example, although codons GAA and GAG both specify glutamic acid (redundancy), neither of them specifies any other amino acid (no ambiguity). The codons encoding one amino acid may differ in any of their three positions. For example the amino acid glutamic acid is specified by GAA […]
Translation starts with a chain initiation codon (start codon). Unlike stop codons, the codon alone is not sufficient to begin the process. Nearby sequences and initiation factors are also required to start translation. The most common start codon is AUG, which codes for methionine, so most amino acid chains start with methionine.
The three stop codons […]
Note that a codon is defined by the initial nucleotide from which translation starts. For example, the string GGGAAACCC, if read from the first position, contains the codons GGG, AAA and CCC; and if read from the second position, it contains the codons GGA and AAC; if read starting from the third position, GAA and […]
2nd base
U
C
A
G
1st
base
U
UUU (Phe/F)Phenylalanine
UUC (Phe/F)Phenylalanine
UUA (Leu/L)Leucine
UUG (Leu/L)Leucine
UCU (Ser/S)Serine
UCC (Ser/S)Serine
UCA (Ser/S)Serine
UCG (Ser/S)Serine
UAU (Tyr/Y)Tyrosine
UAC (Tyr/Y)Tyrosine
UAA Ochre (Stop)
UAG Amber (Stop)
UGU (Cys/C)Cysteine
UGC (Cys/C)Cysteine
UGA Opal (Stop)
UGG (Trp/W)Tryptophan
C
CUU (Leu/L)Leucine
CUC (Leu/L)Leucine
CUA (Leu/L)Leucine
CUG (Leu/L)Leucine
CCU (Pro/P)Proline
CCC (Pro/P)Proline
CCA (Pro/P)Proline
CCG (Pro/P)Proline
CAU (His/H)Histidine
CAC (His/H)Histidine
CAA (Gln/Q)Glutamine
CAG (Gln/Q)Glutamine
CGU (Arg/R)Arginine
CGC (Arg/R)Arginine
CGA (Arg/R)Arginine
CGG (Arg/R)Arginine
A
AUU (Ile/I)Isoleucine
AUC (Ile/I)Isoleucine
AUA (Ile/I)Isoleucine
AUG (Met/M)Methionine, Start[1]
ACU (Thr/T)Threonine
ACC (Thr/T)Threonine
ACA (Thr/T)Threonine
ACG (Thr/T)Threonine
AAU (Asn/N)Asparagine
AAC (Asn/N)Asparagine
AAA (Lys/K)Lysine
AAG (Lys/K)Lysine
AGU (Ser/S)Serine
AGC (Ser/S)Serine
AGA (Arg/R)Arginine
AGG (Arg/R)Arginine
G
GUU (Val/V)Valine
GUC (Val/V)Valine
GUA (Val/V)Valine
GUG (Val/V)Valine
GCU (Ala/A)Alanine
GCC (Ala/A)Alanine
GCA (Ala/A)Alanine
GCG (Ala/A)Alanine
GAU (Asp/D)Aspartic acid
GAC (Asp/D)Aspartic acid
GAA (Glu/E)Glutamic acid
GAG (Glu/E)Glutamic acid
GGU (Gly/G)Glycine
GGC (Gly/G)Glycine
GGA (Gly/G)Glycine
GGG (Gly/G)Glycine
Ala/A
GCU, GCC, GCA, GCG
Leu/L
UUA, UUG, CUU, CUC, CUA, CUG
Arg/R
CGU, CGC, CGA, CGG, AGA, AGG
Lys/K
AAA, AAG
Asn/N
AAU, AAC
Met/M
AUG
Asp/D
GAU, GAC
Phe/F
UUU, UUC
Cys/C
UGU, UGC
Pro/P
CCU, CCC, CCA, CCG
Gln/Q
CAA, CAG
Ser/S
UCU, UCC, UCA, UCG, AGU, AGC
Glu/E
GAA, GAG
Thr/T
ACU, ACC, ACA, ACG
Gly/G
GGU, GGC, GGA, GGG
Trp/W
UGG
His/H
CAU, CAC
Tyr/Y
UAU, UAC
Ile/I
AUU, AUC, AUA
Val/V
GUU, GUC, GUA, GUG
START
AUG
STOP
UAG, UGA, UAA
The genome of an organism is inscribed in DNA, or in some viruses RNA. The portion of the genome that codes for a protein or an RNA is referred to as a gene. Those genes that code for proteins are composed of tri-nucleotide units called codons, each coding for a single amino acid. Each nucleotide […]
After the structure of DNA was deciphered by James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, serious efforts to understand the nature of the encoding of proteins began. George Gamov postulated that a three-letter code must be employed to encode the 20 different amino acids used by living cells to encode proteins (because 3 […]
The genetic code is the set of rules by which information encoded in genetic material (DNA or RNA sequences) is translated into proteins (amino acid sequences) by living cells. Specifically, the code defines a mapping between tri-nucleotide sequences called codons and amino acids; every triplet of nucleotides in a nucleic acid sequence specifies a single […]
