IUPAC codes
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has defined a standard representation of DNA bases by single characters
that specify either a single base (e.g. G for guanine, A for adenine) or a set of bases (e.g. R for
either G or A). UCSC uses these single character codes to represent multiple observed alleles of
single-base polymorphisms.
Symbol | Bases | Origin of designation |
G | G | Guanine |
A | A | Adenine |
T | T | Thymine |
C | C | Cytosine |
R | G or A | puRine |
Y | T or C | pYrimidine |
M | A or C | aMino |
K | G or T | Keto |
S | G or C | Strong interaction (3 H bonds) |
W | A or T | Weak interaction (2 H bonds) |
H | A or C or T | not-G, H follows G in the alphabet |
B | G or T or C | not-A, B follows A |
V | G or C or A | not-T (not-U), V follows U |
D | G or A or T | not-C, D follows C |
N | G or A or T or C | aNy |