PRIMARY SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS AND REPRESENTATION TECHNIQUES IN CARBOHYDRATES

Sequence similarity calculations of carbohydrates present several prob lems which must be addressed if a computer implementation is to be ach ieved. These problems range from the computational representation of t he complex carbohydrate structure to the method by which the compariso n of residue and linkage is to be made. This paper therefore discusses the form of this representation and how two or more carbohydrates can be meaningfully compared. An example set of results using this approa ch is presented and discussed to illustrate how similarity comparison can show relationships between carbohydrates, features that are otherw ise hidden by the sheer volume of data which must be considered.