California condor codon usage

Gymnogyps californianus

Synonymous codon usage in California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), computed from 250 RefSeq coding sequences. Third positions are 45.2% G or C, below the median across the 26 organisms catalogued on this site, making it 23th of 26 by that measure. An effective number of codons of 55.6 indicates weak bias: the closer that value sits to 61, the more evenly an organism spreads its synonymous choices.

45.2%GC3 content
55.6Effective codons (Nc)
250Coding sequences
23/26GC3 rank here

Scope: nuclear genes only

NCBI table 1 (Standard). Do not apply these frequencies to mitochondrial genes, where AGA, AGG, ATA and TGA carry different meanings. The four reassignments.

What distinguishes this table

The most constrained choice in California condor is threonine: of its 4 synonymous codons, ACA takes 37% of the family. Tyrosine sits at the other end, spread almost evenly across its options (evenness 1.00 against 0.92 for threonine). Those two families are where a codon-optimizer has the most and the least room to move.

Measured across all 59 sense codons, this table correlates most closely with Asian elephant (r = 0.988) and least with M. tuberculosis (r = 0.553). A sequence tuned for the first would need little adjustment to move here; one tuned for the second would need a great deal.

Relative to the average across the 26 organisms on this site, California condor leans hardest on GAT (+0.113 against the mean) and avoids ATC most (-0.147). Those two are the codons that most distinguish this table from the others.

Preferred and avoided codons

Amino acid PreferredFreqRSCU AvoidedFreqRSCU
Alanine AGCA0.3291.32GCG0.0940.38
Arginine RAGA0.3201.92CGT0.0930.56
Asparagine NAAT0.5471.09AAC0.4530.91
Aspartate DGAT0.5801.16GAC0.4200.84
Cysteine CTGT0.5161.03TGC0.4840.97
Glutamate EGAA0.5561.11GAG0.4440.89
Glutamine QCAG0.6481.30CAA0.3520.70
Glycine GGGA0.3301.32GGT0.1920.77
Histidine HCAT0.5261.05CAC0.4740.95
Isoleucine IATT0.4241.27ATA0.2460.74
Leucine LCTG0.2971.78CTA0.0870.52
Lysine KAAA0.5421.08AAG0.4580.92
Phenylalanine FTTT0.5491.10TTC0.4510.90
Proline PCCT0.3481.39CCG0.1160.47
Serine STCT0.2201.32TCG0.0380.23
Threonine TACA0.3741.49ACG0.0860.34
Tyrosine YTAT0.5091.02TAC0.4910.98
Valine VGTG0.3561.43GTC0.1860.75

Full codon usage table

Amino acidCodonFrequencyRSCUShare of family
Alanine AGCA0.32891.316
GCT0.31791.272
GCC0.25901.036
GCG0.09420.377
Arginine RAGA0.32021.921
AGG0.23311.399
CGG0.12500.750
CGC0.12100.726
CGA0.10730.644
CGT0.09340.560
Asparagine NAAT0.54681.094
AAC0.45320.906
Aspartate DGAT0.58021.160
GAC0.41980.840
Cysteine CTGT0.51561.031
TGC0.48440.969
Glutamate EGAA0.55571.111
GAG0.44430.889
Glutamine QCAG0.64841.297
CAA0.35160.703
Glycine GGGA0.32961.318
GGC0.26341.054
GGG0.21530.861
GGT0.19160.766
Histidine HCAT0.52561.051
CAC0.47440.949
Isoleucine IATT0.42401.272
ATC0.32970.989
ATA0.24630.739
Leucine LCTG0.29661.780
CTT0.18231.094
TTG0.17351.041
CTC0.14290.857
TTA0.11760.706
CTA0.08720.523
Lysine KAAA0.54221.084
AAG0.45780.916
Methionine MATG1.00001.000
Phenylalanine FTTT0.54931.099
TTC0.45070.901
Proline PCCT0.34821.393
CCA0.34001.360
CCC0.19550.782
CCG0.11630.465
Serine STCT0.22021.321
AGC0.21321.279
AGT0.19101.146
TCA0.18611.117
TCC0.15110.907
TCG0.03840.230
Threonine TACA0.37371.495
ACT0.32181.287
ACC0.21890.876
ACG0.08560.342
Tryptophan WTGG1.00001.000
Tyrosine YTAT0.50941.019
TAC0.49060.981
Valine VGTG0.35641.426
GTT0.26651.066
GTA0.19070.763
GTC0.18630.745

Provenance

Computed from 250 RefSeq coding sequences for Gymnogyps californianus, sampled and counted codon by codon. Frequencies are relative within each amino acid family. Page generated 2026-08-09.

The full derivation of GC3, RSCU and the effective number of codons, along with the limits of each, is set out once in the methods note rather than repeated on every page.

Use this table

Nucleora codon-optimizes a coding sequence against this table directly, then folds the result and reports where structure would interfere with expression.

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