How Do You Spell PFAM?

Pronunciation: [fˈam] (IPA)

Pfam is a commonly used database in bioinformatics for protein families and domains. Its spelling may seem peculiar at first glance, but it is based on the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription of the prefix "pf" pronounced as [pf]. In many languages, including German and Dutch, this combination of consonants is not uncommon, and it is typically pronounced as a single sound, which sounds like the puff of air followed by the 'f'. With this in mind, the spelling of the word Pfam becomes more intuitive.

PFAM Meaning and Definition

1. Pfam is a widely recognized and extensively used bioinformatics resource that stands for Protein Families Database. It is a comprehensive collection of protein family information and alignments, aiming to categorize and describe proteins based on their evolutionary relationships and functional domains.

   Pfam serves as a vital tool in protein sequence analysis and annotation, allowing researchers to interpret and predict protein structure, function, and evolutionary history. It achieves this by using Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to capture and represent the conserved motifs and domains present in protein sequences.

   The database consists of numerous families, each represented by a multiple sequence alignment and an accompanying HMM. These families are curated through a careful process of manually examining, classifying, and annotating protein sequences from diverse sources, such as UniProt, GenBank, and other proteomic databases. Pfam ensures that each family entry is up-to-date, accurate, and provides comprehensive information, including domain boundaries, conserved motifs, as well as associated functional and structural annotations.

   Researchers and bioinformaticians can access Pfam through a user-friendly web interface or programmatically via APIs and FTP. By utilizing Pfam, scientists gain insights into protein structure and function, identify homologous proteins, explore domain architectures, and understand the relationships between proteins from different species. Pfam's powerful search capabilities and its integration with other bioinformatics resources make it an indispensable tool for the analysis and interpretation of proteomic data.

Common Misspellings for PFAM

• pham
• pfam
• pfawn
• pfarm
• p-fam
• Pfaun

Etymology of PFAM

The word "Pfam" is derived from two parts: "Pf" and "am".

The "Pf" represents the initials of the author, Alex Bateman, who co-created the database. It stands for "Pfam" because "P" in his surname represents Pfam.

The "am" portion derives from the word "alignment", as the primary purpose of Pfam is to provide protein family alignments.

So, the combination of "Pf" and "am" creates the word "Pfam", which reflects its aim of providing protein family alignments.