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Consensus sequence

Consensus sequence is a genetic sequence found with minor variations and similar functions in widely divergent organisms or genetic locations. It is a sequence of nucleotides (the basic structural units of DNA or RNA) or amino acids in common between areas of homology in different but related RNA or DNA protein sequences. The consensus sequence shows which residues are always the same and which are variable. Variability can either be constrained (where some but not all residues will work) or absolute (where any residue will work).

In molecular biology and bioinformatics, one major goal is to parse genetic sequences and employ methods of statistical classification for the identification of consensus sequences. Software is often employed to look for nucleotide or amino acid sequence patterns, with biological significance, otherwise known as sequence motif, that play major functional roles in an organism. Examples include enhancers (or regulatory sequences) controlling biosynthesis, or as signal sequences, such as protein targeting and signal peptide, that direct a molecule to a specific site within the cell. The conserved sequence motifs are called consensus sequences.

A consensus sequence can vary in length and can be have multiple instances in a single genome (the full set of chromosomes of an individual, or the total number of genes in such a set). The two primary features of any consensus sequence are its conserved residues and common functional roles, despite its genetic location. Because of this, any consensus sequence also serves as a measurement of functional significance over evolutionary time.

Web Resources On Consensus sequence

Consensus sequence
Wikipedia: Consensus Sequence

Book Resources On Consensus sequence

Identification of Protein Consensus Sequences: Active Site Motifs, Phosphorylation and Other Posttranslational Modifications by A. Aitken
Molecular Cell Biology by Harvey Lodish & James E Darnell

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