2016, Vol. 44, Web Server issue | Haim Ashkenazy1, Shiran Abadi2, Eric Martz3, Ofer Chay1,2,4, Itay Mayrose2,*, Tal Pupko1,* and Nir Ben-Tal4,*
The ConSurf web server, established over 15 years ago, is a widely used tool for identifying functional regions in macromolecules by analyzing the evolutionary dynamics of amino/nucleic acid substitutions among homologous sequences. The server automatically collects homologues, infers multiple sequence alignments, reconstructs phylogenetic trees, and estimates evolutionary rates using a probabilistic framework. The new version of ConSurf introduces several improvements, including automatic selection of the best evolutionary model, the ability to homology-model query proteins, prediction of RNA secondary structures, and advanced visualization features such as mapping conservation grades onto 2D RNA models and interactive re-running ConSurf with sub-trees. These enhancements improve the accuracy and utility of ConSurf in detecting functionally important regions in proteins and nucleic acids.The ConSurf web server, established over 15 years ago, is a widely used tool for identifying functional regions in macromolecules by analyzing the evolutionary dynamics of amino/nucleic acid substitutions among homologous sequences. The server automatically collects homologues, infers multiple sequence alignments, reconstructs phylogenetic trees, and estimates evolutionary rates using a probabilistic framework. The new version of ConSurf introduces several improvements, including automatic selection of the best evolutionary model, the ability to homology-model query proteins, prediction of RNA secondary structures, and advanced visualization features such as mapping conservation grades onto 2D RNA models and interactive re-running ConSurf with sub-trees. These enhancements improve the accuracy and utility of ConSurf in detecting functionally important regions in proteins and nucleic acids.