Multiple choice

In which of the following cases, it is preferable to use BLASTX?

  1. If the input sequence is a protein-encoding DNA sequence.
  2. If one is looking for protein homologs encoded in newly sequenced genomes.
  3. If a DNA sequence is to be used as the query.

  1. Only 1 and 2

  2. Only 1 and 3

  3. Only 2 and 3

  4. All of these

  5. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Yes, both are correct. If the input sequence is a protein-encoding DNA sequence, it is preferable to use BLASTX, which translates it in six open reading frames before sequence comparisons are carried out. If a DNA sequence is to be used as the query, a protein-level comparison can be done with TBLASTX. However, both programs are very computationally intensive and the search process can be very slow.

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