The amino acid coded by the start codon for protein synthesis is: 

Concept:

• Codon is a sequence of three nucleotides that forms a unit of genomic information encoding a particular amino acid.
• There are 64 different codons-
  • 61 specify for amino acids
  • 3 are used as stop signal during protein synthesis.

Important Points

• AUG codon codes for the amino acid Methionine.
• AUG codon acts as a initiator codon for the process of protein synthesis.
• Initiator codon directs the initiation of the protein translation by stimulating the binding of the initiator tRNA  to the mRNA transcript.
• The initiator codons is the initial set of codons present on the mRNA transcript.
• 3 codons, namely UAG, UAA, UGA  are known as stop codons as they form the signal for the termination of the translation process.

Additional Information

• Tryptophan is coded by codons CAU and CAC.
• Valine is coded by codons GTA and GTG.
• Arginine is coded by AGA and AGG.