OntoBlast function: from sequence similarities directly to potential functional annotations by ontology terms

Abstract

OntoBlast allows one to find information about potential functions of proteins by presenting a weighted list of ontology entries associated with similar sequences from completely sequenced genomes identified in a BLAST search. It combines, in a single analysis step, the search for sequence similarities in several species with the association of information stored in ontologies. From each identified ontology term a list of genes, which share the functional annotation, can be retrieved. The OntoBlast function is an integral part of the ‘Ontologies TO GenomeMatrix’ tool which provides an alternative entry point from ontology terms to the Genome–Matrix database. OntoBlast's web interface is accessible on the ‘Ontologies TO GenomeMatrix Gate’ page at http://functionalgenomics.de/ontogate/.