Nucleotide Ambiguity Colours

This colour scheme was devised by Suzanne Duce and the Jalview Team to highlight ambiguity codes used in nucleotide sequences.

The use of X to represent an unknown base is acknowledged, but this is not recommended as the symbol refers to xanthine (see IUPAC-IUB Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature (CBN). Abbreviations and Symbols for Nucleic Acids, Polynucleotides and their Constituents.)

A Adenine
C Cytosine
G Guanine
T Thymine
U Uracil
I Inosine
X Unknown (sometimes Xanthine)
R Unknown Purine
Y Unknown Pyrimidine
W Weak nucleotide (A or T)
S Strong nucleotide (G or C)
M Amino (A or C)
K Keto (G or T)
B Not A (G or C or T)
H Not G (A or C or T)
D Not C (A or G or T)
V Not T (A or G or C)
N Unknown