Sequences annotated by structure: a tool to facilitate the use of structural information in sequence analysis.

With the aim of bridging the gap between protein sequence and structural analyses, we have developed a tool to aid the identification of new protein sequences by recognizing distant homologues using structural information. The tool generates sequence annotated by structure (SAS) files, applying structural information derived from structural analyses to a given protein sequence. A World Wide Web interface allows a given sequence to be submitted either for structural annotation or, where its structure is unknown, for search and alignment against sequences of known structure. In both cases, SAS will colour residues in the sequence of known structure according to a selection of properties, including secondary structure, interatomic contacts and active site information. SAS can also be used to inspect properties of a single structure.