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Words
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Description
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| Gaps
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A gap is defined as any maximal, consecutive run of spaces in a single string of a given alignment. Gaps help create alignments that better conform to underlying biological models and more closely fit patterns that one expects to find in meaningful alignment. The idea is to take in account the number of continuous gaps and not only the number of spaces when calculating an alignment. Affine gaps contain a component for gap insertion and a component for gap extension, where the extension penalty is usually much lower than the insertion penalty. This mimics biological reality as multiple gaps would imply multiple mutations, but a single mutation can lead to a long gap quite easily. |
| Gap penalties
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The penalty applied to a similarity score for the introduction of an insertion or deletion gap, the extension of a gap, or both. Gap penalties are usually subtracted from a cumulative score being determined for the comparison of two or more sequences via an optimization algorithm that attempts to maximize that score. |
| GenBank
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Data bank of genetic sequences operated by a division of the National Institutes of Health. |
| Genetic code
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The mapping of all possible codons into the 20 amino acids including the start and stop codons. |
| Genome
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The complete genetic content of an organism. |
| Genomic DNA (sequence)
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DNA sequence typically obtained from mammalian or other higher-order species, which includes both intron and exon sequence (coding sequence), as well as non-coding regulatory sequences such as promoter, and enhancer sequences. |
| GC content
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The percentage of nucleotides in a genome that are guanine (G) or cytosine (C). |
| Gene Ontology (GO)
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"The goal of the Gene Ontology Consortium is to produce a dynamic controlled vocabulary that can be applied to all eukaryotes even as knowledge of gene and protein roles in cells is accumulating and changing." |
| Global alignment
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The alignment of two nucleic acid or protein sequences over their entire length. |
| Gene families
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Subsets of genes containing homologous sequences which usually correlate with a common function. |
| Gene library
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A collection of cloned DNA fragments created by restriction endonuclease digestion that represent part or all of an organism's genome. |
