LITTLE KEVIN: a program for the estimation of protein homology by analysing the amino acid compositions and sequences
1 INSERM U130, 18 Avenue Mozart, 13009 Marseille, France
2INSERM U38, Faculté de Médecine 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13005 Marseille, France
3To whom correspondence should be addressed
We present here a computational method based on the analysis of amino acid composition for performing comparisons between proteins. This user-friendly and reliable test is aimed at rapidly identifying, from data-base subsets, sequencesif necessary, partial sequenceswhich share similar amino acid compositions to the input composition (deduced from experimental results). Apparent molecular weight (as determined by SDS-PAGE) and artefactual modifications due to the experimental determination of the amino acid composition are taken into account to perform the comparison. This program thus constitutes a useful tool in searching for the probable identification of either nonsequenced proteins or peptides from hydrolysed proteins.
Received on January 2, 1996; accepted on April 23, 1996