Gentle masking of low-complexity sequences improves homology search.

ABSTRACT: Detection of sequences that are homologous, i.e. descended from a common ancestor, is a fundamental task in computational biology. This task is confounded by low-complexity tracts (such as atatatatatat), which arise frequently and independently, causing strong similarities that are not homologies. There has been much research on identifying low-complexity tracts, but little research on how to treat them during homology search. We propose to find homologies by aligning sequences with "gentle" masking of low-complexity tracts. Gentle masking means that the match score involving a masked letter is min(0,S), where S is the unmasked score. Gentle masking slightly but noticeably improves the sensitivity of homology search (compared to "harsh" masking), without harming specificity. We show exampl

SUBMITTER: Frith MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3242753 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature