morFeus

morFeus identifies remotely conserved orthologous protein sequences across species by performing relaxed sequence similarity searches and iterative reciprocal BLAST confirmation to support evolutionary and functional inference, addressing limitations of BLAST and Inparanoid for low sequence conservation.

Key Features:

• Relaxed Sequence Similarity Searches: Performs relaxed sequence similarity searches to detect candidate sequences with low similarity to the query that are often missed by conventional methods.
• Iterative Reciprocal BLAST Searches: Uses iterative reciprocal BLAST searches to test and confirm orthology relationships between candidate sequences.
• Network Score Calculation: Computes a network score for the resulting orthologous network as an orthology measure independent of E-value metrics.
• Automation and Specificity: Automates the detection process to reduce manual intervention and emphasizes specificity in identifying true orthologs.

Scientific Applications:

• Evolutionary Biology: Supports evolutionary and comparative analyses by identifying remotely conserved orthologs across species for phylogenetic and conservation studies.
• Functional Genomics: Enables functional annotation and hypothesis generation by identifying functionally equivalent orthologs across taxa.
• Orthology–Function Inference: Provides evidence for the orthology–function conjecture by detecting orthologs that retain similar functions, as demonstrated through experimental validation.

Methodology:

morFeus performs relaxed sequence similarity searches to identify candidates, applies iterative reciprocal BLAST searches to confirm orthology, and evaluates the resulting orthologous network using a network score independent of E-values.