What is the difference between nucleotide and amino acid

Adenine and guanine are the two purine bases. Likewise, in those, adenine to thiamine or uracil if it is RNA and guanine to cytosine are complementary to each other. The phosphates groups can link with the —OH group of carbon 5 of the sugar. Nucleic acids form via combining nucleotides with phosphodiester bonds removing water molecules.

Amino acids and nucleic acids are highly distinct from each other. The key difference between amino acid and nucleic acid is that amino acid is the building block of proteins whereas nucleic acids is a macromolecule made out of nucleotides. Therefore, amino acids are small molecules while nucleic acids are macromolecules.

So, this is also an important difference between amino acids and nucleic acids. Furthermore, there are many types of amino acids such as essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids, etc. The below infographic on the difference between amino acid and nucleic acid shows these differences intabular form. Amino acids are simple molecules while nucleic acids are large molecules.

Hence, the key difference between amino acid and nucleic acid is that amino acids are the building blocks of proteins whereas nucleic acids are macromolecules made out of nucleotides.

Read more about the differences at: Nucleic Acids. Amino acids on the other hand are the building blocks of our proteins. All proteins are made of alpha amino acids. They consist of a carboxylic acid -COOH and an amino -NH 2 functional group attached to the same tetrahedral carbon atom.

For example, in DNA, there is a deoxyribose sugar in the deoxyribonucleotide while in RNA, there is a ribose sugar in the ribonucleotide. Moreover, there are mainly two groups of nitrogenous bases as pyridines and pyrimidines. Pyrimidines are smaller heterocyclic, aromatic, and six-membered rings containing nitrogens at 1 and 3 positions. Cytosine, thymine, and uracil are examples for pyrimidine bases. Purine bases are much larger than pyrimidines. Other than the heterocyclic aromatic ring, they have an imidazole ring fused to that.

Adenine and guanine are the two purine bases. Adenine forms two H bonds with thiamine or uracil while guanine forms three H bonds with cytosine. The phosphates are linked to the —OH group of carbon 5 of the sugar.

However, in other nucleotides such as ATP, there are more than one phosphate groups present. An amino acid is a monomer of a protein molecule while a nucleotide is a monomer of a nucleic acid. Therefore, this is the key difference between amino acid and nucleotide. Thus, this is another difference between amino acid and nucleotide. Twenty amino acids serve as building blocks of proteins. Each amino acid is represented by a codon in the genetic code. During protein synthesis, the mRNA molecule includes the sequence of amino acids in a functional protein.

The twenty amino acids are shown in figure 3. Figure 3: Twenty Amino Acids. In humans, nine amino acids are considered as essential amino acids since they cannot be synthesized by the body. Therefore, these amino acids should be included in the diet. Other amino acids are synthesized inside the body in various biochemical pathways.

Amino Acid: Amino acid is a simple organic molecule, which contains both carboxyl and amino groups. Nucleic Acid: The monomer of a nucleic acid are nucleotides. Amino Acid: The polymer of amino acids is a protein.