Final answer:
Methionine is an essential amino acid involved in protein synthesis. It has metabolic importance and is encoded by the codon AUG.
Step-by-step explanation:
Methionine is an amino acid that is essential for protein synthesis. It is one of the 20 common amino acids found in proteins. Methionine is represented by the 3-letter code Met. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the structure of proteins and is often the first amino acid in a newly synthesized polypeptide chain.
Methionine has metabolic importance as it is involved in various biochemical processes. It participates in the formation of other compounds such as ß-mercepto pyruvic acid and thiocyanate. Methionine is also a constituent of scleroprotein.
In terms of genetics, methionine is encoded by the codon AUG. This codon not only codes for methionine but also serves as the initiation codon for translation, marking the beginning of protein synthesis.