Multiple sequence alignment: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:07, 29 March 2024

Revision as of 04:48, 5 April 2024

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{{Short description|Alignment of more than two molecular sequences}}

[[File:RPLP0 90 ClustalW aln.gif|right|thumb|575pxupright=1.36|First 90 positions of a protein multiple sequence alignment of instances of the acidic ribosomal protein P0 (L10E) from several organisms. Generated with [[ClustalX]].]]

'''Multiple sequence alignment''' ('''MSA''') is the process or the result of [[sequence alignment]] of three or more [[biological sequence]]s, generally [[protein]], [[DNA]], or [[RNA]]. In many cases, the input set of query sequences are assumed to have an [[evolutionary]] relationship by which they share a linkage and are descended from a common ancestor. From the resulting MSA, sequence [[homology (biology)|homology]] can be inferred and [[molecular phylogeny|phylogenetic analysis]] can be conducted to assess the sequences' shared evolutionary origins. Visual depictions of the alignment as in the image at right illustrate [[mutation]] events such as point mutations (single [[amino acid]] or [[nucleotide]] changes) that appear as differing characters in a single alignment column, and insertion or deletion mutations ([[indel]]s or gaps) that appear as hyphens in one or more of the sequences in the alignment. Multiple sequence alignment is often used to assess sequence [[conservation (genetics)|conservation]] of [[protein ___domain]]s, [[tertiary structure|tertiary]] and [[secondary structure|secondary]] structures, and even individual amino acids or nucleotides.