FingerPRINTScan: intelligent searching of the PRINTS motif database

Motivation: By identifying an unknown gene or protein as a member of a know n family we can infer a wealth of previously compiled information pertinent to that family and its members. Results: This paper introduces a method that classifies sequences rising fa milial definitions from the PRINTS database, allowing progress to be made w ith the identification of distant evolutionary relationships. The approach makes rise of the contextual information inherent in a multiple-motif metho d and has the power to identify hitherto identified relationships in mass g enome data. We exemplify our method by a comparison of database searches wi th uncharacterized sequences from the Caenorhabditis elegans and Saccharomy ces cerevisiae genome projects. This analysis tool combines a simple, user; friendly interface with the capacity to provide an 'intelligent', biologica lly relevant result.