Fast algorithm for peptide sequencing by mass spectroscopy.

An automatic algorithm for sequencing polypeptides from fast atom bombardment tandem mass spectra is presented.Based on graph theory considerations it finds the most probable sequences, even if the amino acid composition is unknown, by scoring mass differences. The algorithm is fast as the computing time increases by less than the square of the number of amino acids. Pairs of two or three amino acids are proposed to explain the gap if peaks are missing.