Talk:List of standard amino acids

message: The explanation of the chemical properties table states that the reported mass of each amino acid "includes the mass of H2O". What does that mean? There's no discussion of water of hydration and I don't see any water molecules in the diagrams in the structures table earlier in the article. DMacks 05:08, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I assume that means the amino acid molecule itself, not the residue in a polypeptide chain. You're right that it's unclear though. I don't have a copy of Lehninger but Voet&Voet gives residue masses that are 18Da lower than these, which makes sense. Opabinia regalis 06:12, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Weights explanation 

message: Recent edits to this page added selenocysteine to the list; I'm somewhat of two minds on the matter. This is the list of standard amino acids, which would imply selenocysteine doesn't belong, but on the other hand it is one of the 22 naturally encoded amino acids and this list might be more useful with all of them. If that's the agreement then I'd suggest moving this page to list of naturally encoded amino acids, as the current title wouldn't be quite accurate. Opabinia regalis 23:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Selenocysteine]]? 

message: My understanding is that J is used for isoleucine/leucine, as B is used for Asx and Z is used for Glx.  Is this not correct?
MAzari 02:25, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Good catch, you're right - see  for the UniProt/EBI list, citing IUPAC. Opabinia regalis 03:14, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  J is not used? 

message: It would be helpful to non-expert readers if there were some links or other hints as to the meaning of some of the qualities given.  I was mystified by pK1, pK2 until I found the Protein pKa calculations link, which lead me to Acid dissociation constant, which clued me in to the general nature of the quantities in those columns.  I never found pKr or pI (although I'd guess they were also acidic measures).  "van der Waals volume" at least I could find by copying the text into the search box.  If I had needed to look up "Da" in "Mass (Da)" it might have been difficult.  Maybe appropriate links in the column heading would improve the situation. -R. S. Shaw 20:12, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I just linked "pI" and "pK" in the table headers. DMacks 20:22, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hints if not definitions? 

message: Don't have time to do it now, but I'm planning to import those values from the amino acid page, and add a table footnote explaining how the sign indicates hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity. Seems like the page here is well-suited for technical data. Maybe the other page should go to just a "hydrophobic" flag, since it's more of a layman's/overview page? DMacks 22:29, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hydropathy index 

message: I was just wondering about the properties of the Van der Walls column. Is that the van der Waals volume of the side chain or the entire amino acid?  Wouldn't the van der Waals volume of the entire amino acid be more useful? 87.243.196.213 09:05, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  van der Waals volume 

message: Shouldn't Proteinogenic amino acid and List of standard amino acids be combined & maybe renamed Standard amino acids. Gregogil 20:23, 5 April 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with merging and have added the tags to both pages, but I wonder if a singular title like Standard amino acid or Proteinogenic amino acid might be preferable per Wikipedia:Naming conventions.--Eloil 03:22, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

text: I think the adjective proteinogenic is far more informative and precise than standard.  Alternatively, we could call it List of standard proteinogenic amino acids, which is even more precise. Indeed, it leaves the possibility open for "non-standard proteinogenic amino acids" (eg. 2004, 431, 333-335 - sorry don't have time to look up a review on the subject) and may satisfy both camps. 134.192.68.154 20:08, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Not all proteinogenic amino acids are standard amino acids. Two proteinogenic amino acids, pyrrolysine and selenocysteine are not considered standard amino acids due to their limited usage and non-standard encoding. Further, artificial additions to the genetic code are proteinogenic but are non-standard, as well. Antorjal 15:05, 29 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Combining pages

message: The last column in the third wikitable says whether each amino acid is "essential in humans."  The symbols are unclear.  Instead, please write "yes" or "no." Shalom (Hello • Peace) 23:55, 21 October 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed. Biochemza 13:57, 1 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Essential in humans" 

message: Is there a one letter abbreviation for gamma glutamic acid?
i think the 3 is Gla? Benkeboy (talk) 16:32, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  One letter abbreviation for gamma-glutamic acid?