PROTEIN-SEQUENCE MOTIFS

Protein sequence motifs are signatures of protein families and can oft en be used as tools for the prediction of protein function. The genera lization and modification of already known motifs are becoming major t rends in the literature, even though new motifs are still being discov ered at an approximately linear rate. The emphasis of motif analysis a ppears to be shifting from metabolic enzymes, in which motifs are asso ciated with catalytic functions and thus often readily recognizable, t o structural and regulatory proteins, which contain more divergent mot ifs. The consideration of structural information increasingly contribu tes to the identification of motifs and their sensitivity. Genome sequ encing provides the basis for asystematic analysis of all motifs that are present in a particular organism. A systematically derived motif d atabase is therefore feasible, allowing the classification of the majo rity of the newly appearing protein sequences into known families.