Elsevier, Methods in Enzymology, p. 61-85
DOI: 10.1016/s0076-6879(97)84005-0
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This chapter presents a novel methodology called MULTIM (multiple motifs); it is based on a combination of graphic visualization of the results and a simple, yet versatile, method for the identification of conserved motifs in the protein sequences being compared. Its true value resides in its ability to present the results in an easy-to-grasp graphic picture that, in addition, is well suited for documentation and/or presentation purposes. The chapter illustrates the qualities of MULTIM on the lipase and esterase family of sequences, as well as other selected sequences. The chapter discusses the present limitations of MULTIM. In its present version, MULTIM presents graphically the alignment of motifs found by MULTIM. Because motifs contain at the least two residues each, and most often three or more, the graphic alignment is intrinsically coarse grained. If it is essential that the alignment be completed at the single-residue level, the user will have to do it manually.