Provided by: pftools_3.2.12-1_amd64 
NAME
xpsa - extended psa header
DESCRIPTION
xpsa is an extension of the psa(5) file format used by the pftools package to describe and store
biological sequences.
xpsa uses keyword=value pairs in the header to include information about the sequence or the alignment
between the sequence and a PROSITE profile (or any other kind of motif). The syntax is therefore easily
extensible. In this man-page, we focus on the keywords defined and used by the pftools package.
In the following text we will use the more general term 'motif' when in fact our discussion refers
specifically to PROSITE profiles. Nevertheless the keywords defined here can be used by any kind of
sequence analysis tool to store and transfer information.
None of the defined keywords are mandatory and analysis tools have often a length limit imposed on the
header line. In order to keep the header line reasonably short and user readable, these tools can easily
remove individual keyword=value pairs which are not important to the specific task at hand.
SYNTAX
The general syntax of the xpsa header is given below. For examples please refer to the corresponding
examples section.
The biological sequence itself starts on the next line following the header and may extend over several
lines. If several sequences are contained in the same file, each must be preceded by a header line.
Syntax of the header line:
>seq_id/seq_pos { [ keyword=value | free_text ] }
The header must start with a '>' followed by the fields detailed below:
seq_id typically the accession number and identifier of the sequence. This text field should not
contain any spaces.
Note: If the input sequences have a well defined accession number and identifier (as is the case
with SWISS-PROT entries) pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1) will use as seq_id the accession number
separated by a '|' from the identifier.
If the input sequences are in FASTA format, no guess can be made about the accession number
or the identifier. Therefore pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1) will use as seq_id all text
following the '>' character up to the first whitespace.
seq_pos
this field describes the sequence coordinates where a motif matches. The positions are
generally given as start_pos-end_pos pairs.
If present, this field is separated from the seq_id by a '/' character.
keyword=value
is an optional list of defined keyword=value pairs. Each pair should be separated from the
next or from free text by whitespaces.
The keyword is case sensitive in the current implementation of the pftools package. It
should not exceed 24 characters in length.
The value can be numeric or alphanumeric. Values containing whitespaces should be enclosed
in either single quotes or double quotes. If the same type of quote appears inside the
value it must be escaped using the '\' character.
Note: the pftools do not currently produce quote enclosed values.
free_text
typically this is a description of the sequence. It should not contain any of the defined
keyword=value pairs.
Keywords
Keywords used by the pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1) programs:
level the highest cut-off level (as a value) exceeded by the alignment.
The characters 'NA' indicate that the alignment score does not exceed any of the cut-off
levels defined in the motif.
level_tag
the highest cut-off level (as a character string) exceeded by the alignment.
The characters 'NA' indicate that the alignment score does not exceed any of the cut-off
levels defined in the motif.
Note: pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1) only report the first 2 characters of the level text
string.
match_nb
if the motif matches several times on the same sequence, each alignment is numbered
incrementally.
If the motif is circular, each single repeat is numbered incrementally with the key
repeat_nb (see below).
match_parent
for each single match of a circular motif, this key references the number of the parental
total match of the circular motif.
Note: if a circular motif matches only once on a given sequence, pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1)
do not report this key.
match_type
identifies the type of match. Either region for a complete match of a motif to a sequence,
or repeat for a single repeat of a circular motif.
motif the name and/or identifier of the motif.
motif_start
the motif position where the alignment begins.
motif_end
negative offset from the end of the alignment to the end of the motif.
norm_score
the normalized score of the alignment.
raw_score
the raw score of the alignment.
repeat_nb
if the motif is circular, each individual repeat is numbered incrementally with this
keyword.
seq_end
negative offset from the end of the alignment to the end of the sequence.
In combination with the information given by seq_pos this allows to deduce the length of
the query sequence.
strand the sequence strand on which the motif matches, when the search includes the reverse
complement of a DNA sequence. The value is either s for the sens or r for the reverse
strand.
Keywords used by the pfmake(1) and pfw(1) programs:
weight the weight of a given sequence in a multiple alignment.
EXAMPLES
(1) >O00628|PEX7/73-315 motif=PS50294|WD_REP raw_score=1336 match_nb=1 match_type=region seq_end=-491
VTW[...]IYD
>O00628|PEX7/540-801 motif=PS50294|WD_REP raw_score=1378 match_nb=2 match_type=region seq_end=-5
SFD[...]PAS
The 2 headers above describe 2 matches of the motif called 'WD_REP' onto the sequence 'PEX7'.
Each of the matches onto this single sequence is numbered using the the match_nb keyword. These
matches are not individual repeats of a circular motif as can be seen with the region value of the
match_type keyword.
The first match starts at position 73 of the sequence and ends at position 315. This position is
491 residues away from the end of the input sequence (seq_end).
The next line following the xpsa(5) header line is the sequence of the match (it has been
truncated here to help readability).
The second match begins at position 540 of the sequence and terminates 5 residues before the end
of the input sequence, that is at position 801.
(2) >O00628|PEX7/540-582 motif=PS50294|WD_REP norm_score=7.437 raw_score=180 match_parent=2
repeat_nb=1 match_type=repeat level=-1 seq_end=-224 motif_start=1 motif_end=-1
SFD[...]PLQ
This example illustrates the kind of header obtained when aligning a circular motif to a sequence.
Each match of this motif (which we will call total match) can be composed of several individual
repeats of the motif. Tools like pfsearch(1) and pfscan(1) can output each total match followed by
all its individual repeats. In this example we only show one of the indiviual repeats that is part
of a total match between a circular profile and a sequence.
The xpsa(5) header above describes a single repeat of a match between a circular motif called
'WD_REP' and the sequence 'PEX7'.
This is the first individual repeat of a match of the circular motif, as identified by the
repeat_nb keyword. The other individual repeats have not been listed in this example.
The total circular motif has at least 2 distinct matches on the 'PEX7' sequence, because this
single repeat is part of the second match as described by the match_parent keyword. The parental
matches have been omitted from this example, they would be numbered using the match_nb keyword.
The normalized score of this motif exceeds the cut-off level number -1 (level keyword) which is
specified in the motif.
This match starts at position 1 of the profile (motif_start) and position 540 of the sequence, it
ends at the end of the motif (motif_end=-1) and position 582 of the sequence.
The next line following the xpsa(5) header line is the sequence of the match (it has been
truncated here to help readability).
SEE ALSO
psa(5), pfsearch(1), pfscan(1), pfw(1), pfmake(1), psa2msa(1)
AUTHOR
This manual page was originally written by Volker Flegel.
The pftools package was developed by Philipp Bucher.
Any comments or suggestions should be addressed to <pftools@sib.swiss>.
pftools 2.3 July 2003 XPSA(5)