OLIGSCAN: a computer program to assist in the design of PCR primers homologous to multiple DNA sequences

OLIGSCAN (oligonucleotide scanner) is a computer program for IBM-PC-compatible computers that allows the user to scan up to 200 DNA sequences for homology to oligonucleotide sequences of interest. Once a core sequence of longer than the user-defined minimum length is found, the remainder of the oligonucleotide is compared to the corresponding positions of the larger sequence to identify matches or mismatches flanking the core region. This algorithm results in identification of the longest possible homologous regions first. The program was originally designed to assist in the identification of potential annealing sites for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers in the genomic DNA of related strains of viruses. However, it may also be used for more general pattern-identification purposes, including scanning for various sequence motifs of functional importance. We present the analysis of homology to an oligonucleotide primer in 16 complete genomic sequences of the human and simian immunodeficiency viruses.