Date:1/15/2009

ocedure will enable greater precision for future researchers. The incorrect use of the tools that existed gave rise to anomalies at times not detecting genes in a fungus when, in fact, they existed, or vice-versa. Dr Lavn explained with an example: "one of the bioinformatic tools, known as BLAST, makes a comparison of sequences: you can take a gene of a pine tree and send it to the database to see what it is similar to. Imagine that, of all the genes the database has identified, none are like that of the pine except a mouse gene, but in a minimal part. The tool would place this result in a prime position; but this did not mean the mouse gene is the same as the pine gene, simply that the two had a small part that was very similar, although 99.9% is very different. This is what happened until now: researchers assumed that, because a result came out first, it meant two genes were the same. In fact, a series of requisites has to be complied with and this is what the researcher has worked on in his thesis: identifying each of the genes that are truly similar or orthologous; i.e. they comply the same function or a very similar function in two different organisms.

Moreover, fruit of this research and, in collaboration with the Department of Mathematics at the Public University of Navarre, the development of the OXPHOS database is anticipated, and this will be available to the scientific community. What this means is that, when researchers need to carry out a study and search for these genes, they can refer to this database and, there being a high percentage of precision, they know the results are reliable. This database gathers the information of 27 fungi genomes already sequenced. The aim is that each time the genome of a new species of fungus is sequenced, the database incorporates this sequencing and the information available is extended.

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Contact: Oihane Lakar oihane@elhuyar.com 0034-943-363-040 Elhuyar Fundazioa Source:Eurekalert

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