Comments on Assignments #2:

 

Question 1-2: The differences between the related sequences and the blast search results are that the latter
- search only the non-redundant databank, i.e. you get fewer duplicate entries
- retrieves also recent results that did not yet make it into the crossreferences
- does not always use the same options used in defining the related sequences.

 

Ad. 3.  Go here for a view of how the combined results might have looked like

 

Ad. 4.  This is another example of “one way streets”.  The D-Ala D-Ala ligase picks up the carbamylphosphate synthetase subunits, but not the gluthathion synthetase (i.e., the search converges without the gluthathion synthetase being identified as a match).  However, the gluthathion synthetase used as a query picks up both the D-Ala D-Ala ligase and the carbamylphosphate synthetase already in the second iteration.