SPREADSHEET MACROS FOR COLORING SEQUENCE ALIGNMENTS

This article describes a set of Microsoft(R) Excel(TM) macros designed to color amino acid and nucleotide sequence alignments for review and preparation of visual aids. The colored alignments can then be modifi ed to emphasize features of interest. Procedures for importing and col oring sequences are described. The macro file adds a new menu to the m enu bar containing sequence-related commands to enable users unfamilia r with Excel to use the macros more readily. The macros were designed for use with Macintosh(R) computers but will also run with the DOS ver sion of Excel.