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Smith-Waterman Algorithm

 

1. Assigns a score to each pair of bases
   - Uses similarity scores only
   - Uses positive scores for related residues
   - Uses negative scores for substitutions and gaps

 

2. Initializes edges of the matrix with zeros

 

3. As the scores are summed in the matrix, any score below 0 is recorded as 0.

 

4. Begins the trace back at the maximum value found anywhere in the matrix

  5. Continues until the score falls to 0.

 

Example:

 


Scoring metrics are of two types:

Distance (cost) Scores
   The distance between identical residues must be 0.
   The distance, or cost, for aligning two non-identical residues must be greater than 0 (i.e. negative distances are not allowed).

Similarity Scores
   Identical or similar residues have positive scores
   Dissimilar residues can have 0 or even negative scores

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BCM HGSC