Amino Acid One Letter Codes - Online Tutor, Practice Problems & Exam Prep

Understanding the one-letter amino acid codes is essential for biochemistry. Eight amino acids have phonetic origins, such as arginine (R) and asparagine (N). Unique first letters represent others, like cysteine (C) and histidine (H). Some share letters based on commonality, with leucine (L) taking precedence over lysine (K). Memorizing these codes aids in grasping protein structure and function, crucial for metabolic pathways and enzyme activity. This knowledge supports comprehension of amino acid pools and their roles in cellular processes.

Phonetic 1-Letter Amino Acid Codes Concept 1

So in this video, we're going to take a look at the phonetic one letter amino acid codes. Now these are a little bit more challenging than our 3 amino acid codes because there's a lot more of them that are going to rely on phonetics. So here we're going to say 8 out of the 20 of the one-letter abbreviations are phonetic in origin. So basically, the way we pronounce them in terms of speech will help to dictate the one-letter code we use for that particular amino acid. But if you can commit to memory these 8, then it becomes that much easier to remember the one-letter codes for all the amino acids. So here if we take a look, first one we have is arginine or arginine, depending on how you want to pronounce it. So if we were to pronounce this r, arginine, arginine, sounds like an r. That's why its one-letter code is r.

Next, asparagine. If we take a look here, asparagine, the n in gene is being hit extra hard, so that's why it's one-letter code is n. Aspartic acid, so aspartic acid, some people pronounce it that way, pronouncing a d instead of a t, so that's why it's one-letter code is d. Glutamic acid, so MYC, so e. So what's one-letter code is e. Next, we have Glutamine. So cutamine. Glutamine sounds similar to cutamine. That's why it's q. Phenylalanine. Phenyl phenyl. Sounds like an f. So that's why its one-letter code is f.

Tryptophan. Now this one's going to require a little bit of silliness, but just imagine you're Bugs Bunny. So this is an old school character cartoon. How would Bugs Bunny pronounce tryptophan? Well, Bugs Bunny would say, Twiptophan, because Bugs Bunny doesn't really pronounce, his r's very well. So, Twiptophan. So we imagine that there's a w here if we're Bugs Bunny. So the one-letter code is w. And then here we have Tyrosine, tie, y. So here, one other code would be y. So remember, tie leads into y. A good way for us to remember this is our memory tool, nerdy wqforf. So nerdy winner qualifies for first. So we took a look at this image, we have a science there, we have our nerdy winner. It looks like they're qualifying by turning in their science project, and we can see that they've gotten a first place ribbon. So nerdy winner qualifies for first. Nerdy helps us to look at the amino acids. So nerdy, and then winner qualifies for first. So keep this in mind when you're looking at the one-letter code for the 8 that have phonetic origins.

Amino Acid One Letter Codes Example 1

Which of the following amino acid one-letter symbols is of phonetic origin? Now we have a memory tool to help us recall the 8 out of the 20 amino acids that are phonetic in origin. And it is "nerdy w q4f". We're going to say that these 8 letters represent the 8 amino acids that are phonetic in origin. And if we look at our options, only option a contains one of these 8 letters, e. E here represents glutamic acid. So we'd say that only option a would have a phonetic origin. E here represents Glutamic acid.

Other 1-Letter Codes Concept 2

In this video, we're going to take a look at the other one-letter codes. Now remember, up to this point, we've discussed 8 out of 20 amino acids that are phonetic in origin. Those we've classified in red. So here we see, for example, asparagine, we see tryptophan, tyrosine, those are all in red, and they already have their one-letter code. Here we have 3 other groups that we'll talk about. First, let's talk about the ones that are green. For these amino acids, we're going to sit for the amino acids with unique first letters. Their one-letter symbol is their first letter. So if we take a look here, cysteine is unique because it is the amino acid with a 'C'. So, its one-letter code is C. Then we have histidine H, then we're going to say next. I'm actually, let me just do these in black so it's easier for us to see. H. We have isoleucine I. We have methionine, so M. Serine is S. And valine is V. Next, we're going to say the ones in blue. We're going to say some amino acids, first letters are not unique, but are still used because they are the more common one. So they are more common. So, for example, overall leucine is more common than lysine in proteins, so leucine's symbol is L. Look here. Both of them start with L, but because leucine is the more common amino acid, it used the letter L. Later on, we'll talk about lysine and what letter it uses. If we go to the very beginning, we have alanine. It is A, just like the others, but it is the most common of the amino acids, so it gets the A. Then here, glycine is G. Then we have proline is P and then threonine is T. And then, what does that leave us with? Well, that leaves us last with lysine, the last one, the yellow one. So this last group or last category, we're going to say only a few letters remain in the alphabet. So we're going to say K was chosen for lysine since it's the closest to L in the alphabet. Right? Because we have KLM, M is already taken up by methionine, so that leaves us with K. So that's why we use K for lysine. Now, there's a lot of amino acids, 20 of them. But remember, 8 of them are phonetic in origin. Memorize those. If you remember those, then you just break down the rest into these 3 categories. The ones in green, they're unique, so their first letter of their name represents the one-letter code for them. Then we have the ones in light blue, those are the more common one with that particular first letter, so they get to keep it. So leucine gets the L instead of lysine. And then, lysine is the only one that's unique from everyone else. It is not phonetic in origin, and it doesn't use the first letter of its name. It uses K instead. Alright. So keep that in mind when we're looking at the other one-letter code for these amino acids.

Amino Acid One Letter Codes Example 2

Which one letter code is unique in that it is neither the first letter of the amino acid nor phonetic in origin? Remember, we've broken down the amino acids into 4 groups. The first eight, we have to memorize because they are phonetic in origin. After that, we have those in our green group, which we say are unique. Their first letter of their name represents their one-letter code. After this, we have our light blue group, which is basically the amino acid that's most commonly found. So they get to use the first letter of their name as their one-letter code. And then we have the last group. This one here is not phonetic in origin, and it doesn't use the first letter in its name, and that would be lysine. Remember, Lysine's one-letter code is K. So here, the answer would be option C.

Convert the following amino acids into their 1-letter codes: Glycine, Isoleucine, Valine, Tryptophan, Proline.

• A. G, I, V, T, P
• B. L, I, V, Y, P
• C. G, L, V, W, P
• D. G, I, V, W, P

Convert the following 3-letter amino acid codes into 1-letter codes to answer the following question:

How does NASA organize a party?

Thr-His-Glu-Tyr-Pro-Leu-Ala-Asn-Glu-Thr.

How does NASA organize a party? They plan it. Alright. So if we take a look here, the first one we're looking at is threonine, which is THR. It here is not a unique amino acid, but it is the most common one beginning with a T, so its one-letter code is T. Next, we have histidine. Histidine represents a unique amino acid because it's the only one that begins with an H, so its one-letter code is H. Here we have glutamic acid, which is glutamic acid. Glutamic acid here is spelled basically; one other code is phonetic in origin. So here, it would be E. Next, we have tyrosine. Tyrosine is also phonetic in origin; it uses Y. So it looks like we have the word "they" so far. But let's keep going to make sure. Next, we have proline. Proline is not a unique amino acid in terms that there are other unique amino acids that begin with P, but it is the most common one. So here, its one-letter code is P. Next, we have leucine here. Leucine is also not unique, but it is the most common, so L. So here next, we have alanine, which is also not unique, but it is the most common, so A. Asparagine here is one of our phonetic ones, so it's N. We have glutamic acid again which is phonetic in origin, so E again. And then we have threonine here. So here, we're going to say when it comes to threonine that it is not unique because there are other amino acids that begin with T, but it is the most common one that begins with a T, so its first letter is T. So here, we have two words, "the planet." So as you can hear it out. So how does NASA organize a party? They plan it. Alright. So this would be our phrase when we're converting these 3-letter amino acids to 1-letter amino acids.

Convert the following 3-letter amino acid codes into 1-letter codes to reveal the sentence.

Ile-Leu-Ile-Lys-Glu-Cys-Ala-Asn-Asp-Tyr !

Convert the following 3 letter amino acid codes into 1 letter codes to reveal the sentence. Alright. So here, as we go through each of these, we have ILE, which is isoleucine. Now remember, isoleucine is a unique amino acid in the sense that it's the only one out of the 20 that begins with I. So here this will start with I. Next, we have LEU, which is Leucine. Leucine is not unique because it is not the only amino acid to begin with L, but it is the most common one out of them. So its first letter code is L. Next, we have is isoleucine again. Isoleucine is unique. It is the only amino acid out of the 20 that begins with I, so I. Next, we have Lysine. Remember, Lysine is a unique one. It doesn't follow the first letter of its name and is not phonetic in origin. It uses the one letter code of K. Next, we have glutamic acid here. Glutamic acid is phonetic in origin. It uses the one letter code E. Next, cysteine. Cysteine is unique. It is the only amino acid out of the 20 that begins with a C. So it's C. Alanine, we're going to say here is not unique because there are other amino acids that begin with A, but it is the most common out of all of them. So here would be A. And then here we're going to say that these last three here, they are phonetic in origin. Asparagine here, we're going to say uses N. This is aspartic acid, if you pronounce it as dic acid. D. And then Tyrosine, Ty Y, this would be Y. So here our sentence comes out to be, I like candy. So, we've just converted the 3 letter amino acid codes into 1 letter amino acid codes, giving us our sentence I like candy.

Here’s what students ask on this topic:

What are the one-letter codes for amino acids with phonetic origins?

The one-letter codes for amino acids with phonetic origins are as follows: Arginine (R), Asparagine (N), Aspartic acid (D), Glutamic acid (E), Glutamine (Q), Phenylalanine (F), Tryptophan (W), and Tyrosine (Y). These codes are derived from the way the amino acids are pronounced, making them easier to remember. For example, Arginine sounds like 'R', and Asparagine emphasizes the 'N' in 'gene'. Memorizing these phonetic codes can simplify the process of learning all the one-letter amino acid codes.

How are the one-letter codes for amino acids with unique first letters determined?

The one-letter codes for amino acids with unique first letters are simply their first letters. These amino acids include Cysteine (C), Histidine (H), Isoleucine (I), Methionine (M), Serine (S), and Valine (V). Since no other amino acids share these initial letters, their one-letter codes are straightforward. This category helps reduce the complexity of memorizing amino acid codes by using a logical and intuitive approach.

Why does Leucine use the letter 'L' instead of Lysine?

Leucine uses the letter 'L' instead of Lysine because Leucine is more common in proteins. When two amino acids share the same initial letter, the more prevalent one gets to use that letter. In this case, Leucine is more frequently found in proteins than Lysine, so it is assigned the letter 'L'. Lysine, on the other hand, uses the letter 'K', which is the closest available letter in the alphabet to 'L'.

What mnemonic can help remember the phonetic one-letter codes for amino acids?

A useful mnemonic to remember the phonetic one-letter codes for amino acids is 'nerdy winner qualifies for first'. This phrase helps recall the codes: N (Asparagine), W (Tryptophan), Q (Glutamine), F (Phenylalanine), and R (Arginine). Visualizing a 'nerdy winner' turning in a science project and winning first place can make it easier to remember these specific codes.

How are the one-letter codes for amino acids with non-unique first letters determined?

For amino acids with non-unique first letters, the one-letter code is assigned to the more common amino acid. For example, Leucine (L) is more common than Lysine, so it gets the letter 'L'. Alanine (A), Glycine (G), Proline (P), and Threonine (T) follow the same rule, where the more prevalent amino acid retains the first letter. This method helps prioritize the most frequently occurring amino acids in proteins.