What is the difference between Amino Acid and Nucleic Acid?

Amino Acid:

1. These are composed of one carboxyl group and one or more amino groups.

2. There are twenty two different types of amino acids.

3. Some important amino acids are glycine, alanine, serine, valine, etc.

4. Amino acids are building blocks of all proteins.

5. Amino acids are linked by peptide bonds to form protein or are present freely in the protoplasm.

Nucleic Acid:

1. These are composed of pentose sugar,nitrogenous base and phosphate group.

2. There are two types of nucleic acids.

3. The two types of nucleic acids are DNA and RNA.

4. DNA is the genetic material. RNA is mainly responsible for protein synthesis and is genetic material in some viruses.

5. DNA is associated with histone protein in chromosome in eukaryotic cell or is present in naked condition in prokaryotes, mitochondria and plastids. RNA is also present in free state.