Amino acid synthesis

For the non-biological synthesis of amino acids see: Strecker amino acid synthesis

Amino acid synthesis is the set of biochemical processes (metabolic pathways) by which the various amino acids are produced from other compounds. The substrates for these processes are various compounds in the organism's diet or growth media. Not all organisms are able to synthesise all amino acids, for example humans are only able to synthesise 12 of the 20 standard amino acids.

Amino acid synthesis
Amino acids are synthesized from Glutamate, which is formed by amination of &alpha;-ketoglutarate:

$$\alpha -ketoglutarate + NH_4^+ \rightleftarrows Glutamate$$

Afterwards, Alanine and Aspartate are formed by transamination of Glutamate. All of the remaining amino acids are then constructed from Glutamate or Aspartate, by transamination of these two amino acids with one &alpha;-keto acid.