Genetic Code (mRNA)

Amino Acid	Three Letter Abbreviation	One Letter Abbreviation	mRNA Codons
Alanine	Ala	A	GCA GCC GCG GCU
Arginine	Arg	R	AGA AGG CGA CGC CGG CGU
Aspartic Acid	Asp	D	GAC GAU
Asparagine	Asn	N	AAC AAU
Cysteine	Cys	C	UGC UGU
Glutamic Acid	Glu	E	GAA GAG
Glutamine	Gln	Q	CAA CAG
Glycine	Gly	G	GGA GGC GGG GGU
Histidine	His	H	CAC CAU
Isoleucine	Ile	I	AUA AUC AUU
Leucine	Leu	L	UUA UUG CUA CUC CUG CUU
Lysine	Lys	K	AAA AAG
Methionine	Met	M	AUG
Phenylalanine	Phe	F	UUC UUU
Proline	Pro	P	CCA CCC CCG CCU
Serine	Ser	S	AGC AGU UCA UCC UCG UCU
Threonine	Thr	T	ACA ACC ACG ACU
Tryptophan	Trp	W	UGG
Tyrosine	Tyr	Y	UAC UAU
Valine	Val	V	GUA GUC GUG GUU
Start Codon	n/a	n/a	AUG
Stop Codon	n/a	n/a	UAA UAG UGA

Colors give properties of amino acid side groups at pH 7:

• Polar and charged side groups are hydrophilic.

• At pHs commonly found in cells....

  • lysine & arginine have positive charges on their side group.

  • glutamic and aspartic acids have negative charges.

Codon	Amino Acid	Codon	Amino Acid	Codon	Amino Acid
AAA	Lys	CGA	Arg	UAA	Stop
AAC	Asn	CGC	Arg	UAC	Tyr
AAG	Lys	CGG	Arg	UAG	Stop
AAU	Asn	CGU	Arg	UAU	Tyr
ACA	Thr	CUA	Leu	UCA	Ser
ACC	Thr	CUC	Leu	UCC	Ser
ACG	Thr	CUG	Leu	UCG	Ser
ACU	Thr	CUU	Leu	UCU	Ser
AGA	Arg	GAA	Glu	UGA	Stop
AGC	Ser	GAC	Asp	UGC	Cys
AGG	Arg	GAG	Glu	UGG	Trp
AGU	Ser	GAU	Asp	UGU	Cys
AUA	Ile	GCA	Ala	UUA	Leu
AUC	Ile	GCC	Ala	UUC	Phe
AUG	Met/Start	GCG	Ala	UUG	Leu
AUU	Ile	GCU	Ala	UUU	Phe
CAA	Gln	GGA	Gly	These are RNA codons. The amino acids are given as 3 letter codes, which can be found in the first chart. Colors show the nature of the amino acid side groups.
CAC	His	GGC	Gly
CAG	Gln	GGG	Gly
CAU	His	GGU	Gly
CCA	Pro	GUA	Val
CCC	Pro	GUC	Val
CCG	Pro	GUG	Val
CCU	Pro	GUU	Val

Acknowledgement: This page is adapted from a similar page at http://members.aol.com/Cappuccinno21/Biochem/gencode.html