diff --git a/modules/gui/src/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/gui/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 36b468e63609e895af4c01c2a6363b31502b79fe..decd467a86f326b263bc80212a241f8aadd67e39 100644
--- a/modules/gui/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/gui/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ sequence_search_bar.hh
 )
 
 set(OST_GUI_SEQUENCE_VIEW_HEADERS
+align_properties_painter.hh
 base_row.hh
 background_painter.hh
 painter.hh
@@ -214,6 +215,7 @@ sequence_viewer/sequence_viewer_base.cc
 sequence_viewer/sequence_viewer.cc
 sequence_viewer/sequence_scene.cc
 sequence_viewer/sequence_search_bar.cc
+sequence/align_properties_painter.cc
 sequence/base_row.cc
 sequence/background_painter.cc
 sequence/secstr_row.cc
@@ -347,6 +349,7 @@ sequence_viewer/sequence_viewer_base.hh
 sequence_viewer/sequence_viewer.hh
 sequence_viewer/sequence_scene.hh
 sequence_viewer/sequence_search_bar.hh
+sequence/align_properties_painter.hh
 sequence/background_painter.hh
 sequence/base_row.hh
 sequence/painter.hh
diff --git a/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.cc b/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..795e8febd8b9cfa31307bde0d774fae771c23e4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// This file is part of the OpenStructure project <www.openstructure.org>
+//
+// Copyright (C) 2008-2010 by the OpenStructure authors
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+// the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+// Software Foundation; either version 3.0 of the License, or (at your option)
+// any later version.
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+// ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+// FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
+// details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+// 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+/*
+  Author: Stefan Scheuber
+ */
+
+
+#include <QtGui>
+
+#include "align_properties_painter.hh"
+
+namespace ost { namespace gui {
+
+namespace {
+
+QMap<QString,QColor> GetColorMap(){
+  QMap<QString,QColor> map;
+  map["G"]=QColor(Qt::gray);
+  map["A"]=QColor(Qt::gray);
+  map["V"]=QColor(Qt::gray);
+  map["L"]=QColor(Qt::gray);
+  map["I"]=QColor(Qt::gray);
+  map["F"]=QColor(255,165,0);
+  map["Y"]=QColor(255,165,0);
+  map["W"]=QColor(255,165,0);
+  map["C"]=QColor(Qt::yellow);
+  map["M"]=QColor(Qt::yellow);
+  map["S"]=QColor(Qt::green);
+  map["T"]=QColor(Qt::green);
+  map["K"]=QColor(Qt::red);
+  map["R"]=QColor(Qt::red);
+  map["H"]=QColor(Qt::red);
+  map["D"]=QColor(Qt::blue);
+  map["E"]=QColor(Qt::blue);
+  map["N"]=QColor(Qt::blue);
+  map["Q"]=QColor(Qt::blue);
+  map["P"]=QColor(Qt::magenta);
+  return map;
+}
+
+}
+
+QMap<QString,QColor> AlignPropertiesPainter::color_map_ = GetColorMap();
+
+
+AlignPropertiesPainter::AlignPropertiesPainter(QObject* parent)
+    : Painter(parent)
+{}
+
+void AlignPropertiesPainter::Paint(QPainter* painter, const QStyleOptionViewItem& option, const QModelIndex& index){
+  painter->save();
+  if (index.column()>0){
+    QString text = index.data(Qt::DisplayRole).toString();
+    if(color_map_.contains(text)){
+      painter->fillRect(option.rect, color_map_[text]);
+    }
+  }
+  painter->restore();
+}
+
+}}
diff --git a/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.hh b/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.hh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..d33331cc6bd8c188379de76b0443ad5aeef06433
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/gui/src/sequence/align_properties_painter.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// This file is part of the OpenStructure project <www.openstructure.org>
+//
+// Copyright (C) 2008-2010 by the OpenStructure authors
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+// the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+// Software Foundation; either version 3.0 of the License, or (at your option)
+// any later version.
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+// ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS
+// FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more
+// details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+// along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+// 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+#ifndef OST_SEQUENCE_VIEWER_ALIGN_PROPERTIES_PAINTER
+#define OST_SEQUENCE_VIEWER_ALIGN_PROPERTIES_PAINTER
+
+/*
+  Author: Stefan Scheuber
+ */
+
+#include <QObject>
+
+#include "painter.hh"
+
+namespace ost { namespace gui {
+
+
+
+class AlignPropertiesPainter : public Painter
+{
+  Q_OBJECT
+public:
+  AlignPropertiesPainter(QObject* parent = 0);
+  void Paint(QPainter *painter, const QStyleOptionViewItem &option, const QModelIndex &index);
+private:
+  static QMap<QString,QColor> color_map_;
+};
+
+}}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/modules/gui/src/sequence/sequence_view_object.cc b/modules/gui/src/sequence/sequence_view_object.cc
index b5a44c06753a7b8670377708b7fcff4960124d19..daf0bbf65867f22df86c440683f83bedbc346dce 100644
--- a/modules/gui/src/sequence/sequence_view_object.cc
+++ b/modules/gui/src/sequence/sequence_view_object.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "sequence_row.hh"
 #include "secstr_row.hh"
 
+#include "align_properties_painter.hh"
 #include "painter.hh"
 #include "background_painter.hh"
 #include "seq_secstr_painter.hh"
@@ -82,6 +83,8 @@ void SequenceViewObject::AddSequence(seq::SequenceHandle& sequence, const QStrin
   SequenceRow* new_row = new SequenceRow(name, sequence, this);
   Painter* p = new BackgroundPainter(this);
   new_row->InsertPainter(p);
+  p = new AlignPropertiesPainter(this);
+  new_row->InsertPainter(p);
   p = new SeqSelectionPainter(this);
   new_row->InsertPainter(p);
   p = new SeqTextPainter(this);