Unknown Extra Credit

Instructions for using NCBI BLAST:

  1. After verifying the identity of your unknown with your TA, click on your unkown and download the 16S rRNA sequence. This is for your gram- unknown only.

  2. Copy the sequence.

  3. To search GenBank for sequence matches go to: https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi

  4. Under WebBlast click on Nucleotide BLAST

  5. Enter your query sequence in the space provided.

  6. Under “Choose Search Set” for Database choose Other. Nucleotide collection should be the default for the drop down menu. You can play with other databases to search if you want to see  what each one contains.

  7. Scroll to the bottom and hit the BLAST icon to begin your search.

  8. On the next screen a job title and search progress screen will show up. It may take a few seconds to complete the search.

  9. When the results screen appears, scroll down until you see the Description box.

  10. The top listed bacterium is the one with the greatest sequence match to your unknown. In order to receive full extra credit points, write down the full line of text including the reference #, genus and species name and score of the best sequence match. Does this match agree with your phenotypic identification?