What is the Difference Between Amino Acid and Nucleic Acid?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚Amino acids and nucleic acids are both essential biomolecules in living organisms, but they have distinct differences in their functions, structures, and compositions. The key differences between amino acids and nucleic acids are:
- Function: Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which are responsible for various bodily functions, while nucleic acids are responsible for storing and expressing genetic information, such as race, weight, height, and other distinguishing and unique characteristics.
- Structure: Amino acids are simple molecules, whereas nucleic acids are large macromolecules. Amino acids have a central carbon atom, called the α-carbon, along with a hydrogen, an amino group (-NH2), a carboxylic acid group (-COOH), and a side chain that varies for each amino acid. In contrast, nucleic acids are long, linear polymers composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers that make up DNA and RNA.
- Composition: Amino acids consist of mainly carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur, while nucleic acids consist of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and, in the case of RNA, a sugar in its monomer.
- Bond Formation: Amino acids form peptide bonds when they come together to form proteins, while nucleic acids can form hydrogen bonds.
- Types: There are many types of amino acids, such as essential amino acids and non-essential amino acids, while there are only two major types of nucleic acids: DNA and RNA.
Comparative Table: Amino Acid vs Nucleic Acid
Amino acids and nucleic acids are two different types of biomolecules that play crucial roles in living organisms. Here is a table comparing their differences:
| Feature | Amino Acids | Nucleic Acids (DNA and RNA) |
|---|---|---|
| Function | Building blocks of proteins, responsible for various bodily functions | Store genetic information and play a role in the storage and expression of genes |
| Structure | Amino acids are individual molecules | Nucleic acids are polymers of nucleotides, with DNA and RNA being the two most well-known types |
| Genetic Code | Amino acids are encoded by the genetic code, which is a set of relationships between codons (three-letter sequences of mRNA nucleotides) and amino acids or stop signals | The genetic code is stored in the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), which provide instructions for the synthesis of proteins |
| Examples | Phenylalanine, serine, tyrosine, cysteine, leucine, alanine, aspartic acid, glycine, glutamic acid, etc. | Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) |
| Role in Protein Synthesis | Amino acids are linked together in a specific order to form proteins, which have various functions in the body | Nucleic acids (mRNA) direct protein synthesis by providing the genetic code for the sequence of amino acids in a protein |
In summary, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, while nucleic acids store genetic information and play a role in the storage and expression of genes. They have different structures and functions, with amino acids being individual molecules and nucleic acids being polymers of nucleotides. The genetic code, which is stored in nucleic acids, encodes the relationships between codons and amino acids or stop signals, allowing for the synthesis of proteins from amino acids.
- Amino Acid vs Nucleotide
- Nucleotide vs Nucleic Acid
- Amine vs Amino Acid
- Amino Acid vs Protein
- Amino Acid vs Protein
- DNA vs RNA Nucleotide
- Amino Acid vs Imino Acid
- Fatty Acid vs Amino Acid
- Deoxyribonucleic acid vs Ribonucleic Acid
- Nucleotide vs Nucleoside
- Vitamins vs Amino Acids
- Acidic vs Basic Amino Acids
- BCAA vs Amino Acids
- Base Sequence vs Amino Acid Sequence
- DNA vs RNA
- Peptides vs Amino Acids
- Nucleotide vs Base
- Aliphatic vs Aromatic Amino Acids
- Alpha vs Beta Amino Acid