Name:
Exercise 8A: BLAST STA 4953 (Spring 2001) Due 3/29/2001
Using the amino acid sequence of one of the human hemoglobin chains as your query, run a BLAST search. (Please use the new advanced BLAST system at NCBI. This can be found here (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/blast.cgi). Examine the output and answer the following questions: What sequence(s) is (are) most similar but not identical to your query sequence? pdb|1C7D|A Chain A, Deoxy Rhb1.2 (Recombinant Hemoglobin) pdb|1DKE|A Chain A, Ni Beta Heme Human Hemoglobin pdb|1C7C|A Chain A, Deoxy Rhb1.1 (Recombinant Hemoglobin) What family of proteins, other than the hemoglobin family, has most similar sequences to your query sequence? Hint: You might need to set certain advanced options for the BLAST server. Find out about the biological function of the protein family identified in question 2. Myoglobin serves as an intracellular storage site for oxygen. During periods of oxygen deprivation oxymyoglobin releases its bound oxygen which is then used for metabolic purposes.