Automatic intron detection in nuclear DNA sequences of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The goal of the present work is the construction of software (EXPLORA) which automatically detects Open Reading Frames (ORF), intron-containing or not, in the nuclear sequences of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In order to detect introns within (or preceding) ORFs, one must define precise rules of how an intron is identified. These rules are described here. The software is able to detect correctly an intron-associated ORF in at least 88% of cases. We tested all yeast nuclear entries of the EMBL database with the software, and found, in addition to the known intron-associated ORFs, some others which may include an intron. Finally the software was applied to the DNA sequences of chromosomes III and XI, in which it detected eight new intron-associated ORFs.