A multiple sequence comparison method.

This article presents a new method for the comparison of multiple macromolecular sequences. It is based on a hierarchical sequence synthesis procedure that does not require any a priori knowledge of the molecular structure of the sequences or the phylogenetic relations among the sequences. It differs from the existing methods as it has the capability of: (i) generating a statistical-structural model of the sequences through a synthesis process that detects homologous groups of the sequences, and (ii) aligning the sequences while the taxonomic tree of the sequences is being constructed in one single phase. It produces superior results when compared with some existing methods.