FASTA (EBI)

FASTA (EBI) performs sequence similarity searches and alignments to identify homologous DNA and protein sequences and support comparative and functional analyses.

Key Features:

• Sequence alignment modes: Supports both local and global sequence alignment searches for DNA and protein sequences.
• Implemented algorithms: Uses SSEARCH (local), GGSEARCH (global), and GLSEARCH (global query, local database) for optimal alignments.
• DNA-to-protein translation: Translates DNA queries using FASTX and FASTY to enable translated searches against protein databases.
• Integration with EMBL-EBI resources: Connects search results with databases including UniProt, InterPro, ENA, and Ensembl Genomes.
• EMBL-EBI Job Dispatcher framework: Operates as part of the EMBL-EBI Job Dispatcher framework for coordinated sequence-analysis services.

Scientific Applications:

• Functional annotation of proteins: Identifies homologs to infer protein function from sequence similarity.
• Homology detection: Detects homologous sequences across protein and nucleotide datasets.
• Evolutionary and comparative studies: Supports comparative analyses and evolutionary inference using global and local alignments.
• Genomic sequence analysis: Enables translated searches (FASTX/FASTY) to analyze coding potential and protein-level matches from DNA queries.

Methodology:

Performs sequence alignments using SSEARCH (local), GGSEARCH (global), and GLSEARCH (global query, local database), and translates DNA queries with FASTX and FASTY.