Distant homologies: motifs, patterns, profiles¹

	HOW TO READ THIS TUTORIAL
	BASIC CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY
	STRATEGIES
	EXERCISES

SUMMARY

This is an introductory course for biologists interested in weak protein sequence similarities which can not be found with simple database search. Patterns, motifs, and profiles are mathematical representations of previously identified groups of similar sequences. Their collections can be used to find out if a sequence bears similarity to any known structural and functional group. New similarity groups and new patterns can be identified by a series of iterative steps that include database search, multiple alignment and pattern building and pattern search. Most of the methods can be used at remote sites, through the Internet, and this tutorial contains the pointers that get you there. The tutorial is based on the annual course "Computer methods in Molecular Biology" held at ICGEB, Trieste.

Compiled and written by

Sándor Pongor

Kristian Vlahovicek

1996