title: MagicMatch--cross-referencing sequence identifiers across databases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  At present, mapping of sequence identifiers across databases is a daunting, time-consuming and computationally expensive process, usually achieved by sequence similarity searches with strict threshold values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We present a rapid and efficient method to map sequence identifiers across databases. The method uses the MD5 checksum algorithm for message integrity to generate sequence fingerprints and uses these fingerprints as hash strings to map sequences across databases. The program, called MagicMatch, is able to cross-link any of the major sequence databases within a few seconds on a modest desktop computer.
authors.affiliation: Computational Genomics Group, The European Bioinformatics Institute, EMBL Cambridge Outstation, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK.
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kunin
authors.forename: Leon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goldovsky
authors.forename: Anton J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Enright
authors.forename: Christos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ouzounis
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003628:Database Management Systems; D030562:Databases, Protein; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval / Q000379:methods*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000379:methods*; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein / Q000379:methods*; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins