{"id":{"repo_id":"unlv","oai_identifier":"oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2078"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unlv/oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2078","repository":{"repo_id":"unlv","name":"University of Nevada - Las Vegas","base_url":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Do RNA-dependent polymerases share common ancestry? A bioinformatic approach","abstract":"Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to perform hypothesis-driven research that generates new knowledge from existing biological databases. For any bioinformatic analysis, it is important that the most accurate method(s) be used. The first portion of this thesis is a comparative evaluation of six programs designed for the local alignment of protein sequences. The results demonstrate that two of the programs, MEME and PROBE, outperform all other programs (BLOCKMAKER, ITERALIGN, MATCHBOX, and PIMA). The second portion of this thesis uses MEME and PROBE in an attempt to locate an ordered-series-of-motifs (OSM) among two groups of RNA-dependent polymerases, the large (L) protein from viruses in the order Mononegavirales and the reverse transcriptase (RT) protein from retroviruses and retroid agents. An OSM was not detected among the L and RT proteins, suggesting that they are not homologs. This result also supports the hypothesis that all RNA-dependent polymerases do not share common ancestry.","abstract_html":"Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to perform hypothesis-driven research that generates new knowledge from existing biological databases. For any bioinformatic analysis, it is important that the most accurate method(s) be used. The first portion of this thesis is a comparative evaluation of six programs designed for the local alignment of protein sequences. The results demonstrate that two of the programs, MEME and PROBE, outperform all other programs (BLOCKMAKER, ITERALIGN, MATCHBOX, and PIMA). The second portion of this thesis uses MEME and PROBE in an attempt to locate an ordered-series-of-motifs (OSM) among two groups of RNA-dependent polymerases, the large (L) protein from viruses in the order Mononegavirales and the reverse transcriptase (RT) protein from retroviruses and retroid agents. An OSM was not detected among the L and RT proteins, suggesting that they are not homologs. This result also supports the hypothesis that all RNA-dependent polymerases do not share common ancestry.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hudak, Julianna"],"institution":"University of Nevada, Las Vegas","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Biological Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Marcella McClure"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1999,"date_issued":"1999-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1999-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:04Z","subjects":[],"languages":["English"],"rights":["IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1079"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1079","href":"https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1079","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.25669/vgki-soqa","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Marcella McClure"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hudak, Julianna"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["University of Nevada, Las Vegas"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biological Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.25669/vgki-soqa","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1079","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/context/rtds/article/2078/viewcontent/uc.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to perform hypothesis-driven research that generates new knowledge from existing biological databases. For any bioinformatic analysis, it is important that the most accurate method(s) be used. The first portion of this thesis is a comparative evaluation of six programs designed for the local alignment of protein sequences. The results demonstrate that two of the programs, MEME and PROBE, outperform all other programs (BLOCKMAKER, ITERALIGN, MATCHBOX, and PIMA). The second portion of this thesis uses MEME and PROBE in an attempt to locate an ordered-series-of-motifs (OSM) among two groups of RNA-dependent polymerases, the large (L) protein from viruses in the order Mononegavirales and the reverse transcriptase (RT) protein from retroviruses and retroid agents. An OSM was not detected among the L and RT proteins, suggesting that they are not homologs. This result also supports the hypothesis that all RNA-dependent polymerases do not share common ancestry."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Do RNA-dependent polymerases share common ancestry? A bioinformatic approach"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Marcella McClure"],"dc:creator":["Hudak, Julianna"],"dc:description.abstract":["Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to perform hypothesis-driven research that generates new knowledge from existing biological databases. For any bioinformatic analysis, it is important that the most accurate method(s) be used. The first portion of this thesis is a comparative evaluation of six programs designed for the local alignment of protein sequences. The results demonstrate that two of the programs, MEME and PROBE, outperform all other programs (BLOCKMAKER, ITERALIGN, MATCHBOX, and PIMA). The second portion of this thesis uses MEME and PROBE in an attempt to locate an ordered-series-of-motifs (OSM) among two groups of RNA-dependent polymerases, the large (L) protein from viruses in the order Mononegavirales and the reverse transcriptase (RT) protein from retroviruses and retroid agents. An OSM was not detected among the L and RT proteins, suggesting that they are not homologs. This result also supports the hypothesis that all RNA-dependent polymerases do not share common ancestry."],"dc:format":["pdf"],"dc:identifier":["10.25669/vgki-soqa","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1079","https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/context/rtds/article/2078/viewcontent/uc.pdf"],"dc:language":["English"],"dc:publisher":["University of Nevada, Las Vegas"],"dc:rights":["IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Do RNA-dependent polymerases share common ancestry? A bioinformatic approach"],"dc:type":["Text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biological Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:25:04Z"}