Yeast (S. cerevisiae) Codon Usage
For every amino acid with more than one synonymous codon, Yeast (S. cerevisiae)uses some codons far more often than others. The table below shows each codon's usage fraction — the share of that amino acid's codons it accounts for — with the preferred (most-used) codon highlighted.
| Amino acid | 1-letter | 3-letter | Codon | Fraction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alanine | A | Ala | GCT | 38%preferred |
| Alanine | A | Ala | GCC | 22% |
| Alanine | A | Ala | GCA | 29% |
| Alanine | A | Ala | GCG | 11% |
| Arginine | R | Arg | CGT | 14% |
| Arginine | R | Arg | CGC | 6% |
| Arginine | R | Arg | CGA | 7% |
| Arginine | R | Arg | CGG | 4% |
| Arginine | R | Arg | AGA | 48%preferred |
| Arginine | R | Arg | AGG | 21% |
| Asparagine | N | Asn | AAT | 59%preferred |
| Asparagine | N | Asn | AAC | 41% |
| Aspartic acid | D | Asp | GAT | 65%preferred |
| Aspartic acid | D | Asp | GAC | 35% |
| Cysteine | C | Cys | TGT | 63%preferred |
| Cysteine | C | Cys | TGC | 37% |
| Glutamic acid | E | Glu | GAA | 70%preferred |
| Glutamic acid | E | Glu | GAG | 30% |
| Glutamine | Q | Gln | CAA | 69%preferred |
| Glutamine | Q | Gln | CAG | 31% |
| Glycine | G | Gly | GGT | 47%preferred |
| Glycine | G | Gly | GGC | 19% |
| Glycine | G | Gly | GGA | 22% |
| Glycine | G | Gly | GGG | 12% |
| Histidine | H | His | CAT | 64%preferred |
| Histidine | H | His | CAC | 36% |
| Isoleucine | I | Ile | ATT | 46%preferred |
| Isoleucine | I | Ile | ATC | 26% |
| Isoleucine | I | Ile | ATA | 27% |
| Leucine | L | Leu | TTA | 28% |
| Leucine | L | Leu | TTG | 29%preferred |
| Leucine | L | Leu | CTT | 13% |
| Leucine | L | Leu | CTC | 6% |
| Leucine | L | Leu | CTA | 14% |
| Leucine | L | Leu | CTG | 11% |
| Lysine | K | Lys | AAA | 58%preferred |
| Lysine | K | Lys | AAG | 42% |
| Methionine | M | Met | ATG | 100%preferred |
| Phenylalanine | F | Phe | TTT | 59%preferred |
| Phenylalanine | F | Phe | TTC | 41% |
| Proline | P | Pro | CCT | 31% |
| Proline | P | Pro | CCC | 15% |
| Proline | P | Pro | CCA | 42%preferred |
| Proline | P | Pro | CCG | 12% |
| Serine | S | Ser | TCT | 26%preferred |
| Serine | S | Ser | TCC | 16% |
| Serine | S | Ser | TCA | 21% |
| Serine | S | Ser | TCG | 10% |
| Serine | S | Ser | AGT | 16% |
| Serine | S | Ser | AGC | 11% |
| Threonine | T | Thr | ACT | 35%preferred |
| Threonine | T | Thr | ACC | 22% |
| Threonine | T | Thr | ACA | 30% |
| Threonine | T | Thr | ACG | 14% |
| Tryptophan | W | Trp | TGG | 100%preferred |
| Tyrosine | Y | Tyr | TAT | 56%preferred |
| Tyrosine | Y | Tyr | TAC | 44% |
| Valine | V | Val | GTT | 39%preferred |
| Valine | V | Val | GTC | 21% |
| Valine | V | Val | GTA | 21% |
| Valine | V | Val | GTG | 19% |
| Stop | * | Stop | TAA | 47% |
| Stop | * | Stop | TAG | 23% |
| Stop | * | Stop | TGA | 30% |
Optimize a protein for Yeast
Paste a protein sequence and every residue is rewritten with its preferred Yeast codon — the same engine behind the full Codon Optimizer tool, scoped to this one organism.
Frequently asked questions
What is the preferred codon for each amino acid in Yeast?
The codon with the highest usage fraction for that amino acid in Yeast (S. cerevisiae) — highlighted in green in the table below. It's the codon a codon optimizer picks when rewriting a gene for this host.
What's a rare codon to avoid in Yeast?
CGG (Arginine) is used only 4% of the time among its synonymous codons in Yeast (S. cerevisiae) — a run of codons like this can slow translation if the matching tRNA is scarce.
How do I codon-optimize a gene for Yeast?
Paste the protein sequence into the tool below (or the full Codon Optimizer), and every residue is rewritten with its most-used codon in Yeast (S. cerevisiae) — the encoded protein is unchanged, only the DNA sequence changes.
Are these values exact?
These fractions are reference approximations derived from the Kazusa Codon Usage Database for Yeast (S. cerevisiae). For critical work, verify against your specific expression system rather than treating any single table as definitive.