Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
469385 | Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine | 2007 | 8 Pages |
Comparison of bioinformatic data is a common application in the life sciences and beyond. In this communication, a novel Java based software tool, ProteinParser, is outlined. This software tool calculates a detailed consensus, or most common, amino acid at a given position in an aligned protein set, whilst also generating a full consensus protein FASTA output. A second application of this software tool, computing a consensus amino acid given a tolerance threshold, is also demonstrated. The phytase and the common bacterial β-lactamase proteins are analysed as ‘proof of concept’ examples. Consensus proteins, as generated by ProteinParser, are regularly utilised in the selection of residues for protein stabilisation mutagenesis; however, this widely applicable software tool will find many alternative applications in areas such as protein homology modelling.