Question

Which of the following is an incorrect statement about SignalP?

(a) It only uses neural networks

(b) It only uses HMMs

(c) It is a web-based program that predicts subcellular localization signals

(d) It uses both neural networks and HMMs

I have been asked this question during an online interview.

This interesting question is from Protein Sorting topic in division Functional Genomics & Proteomics of Bioinformatics

Answer 1

The correct choice is (b) It only uses HMMs

Easy explanation: The neural network algorithm combines two different scores, one for recognizing signal peptides and the other for protease cleavage sites. The HMM-based analysis discriminates between signal peptides and the N-terminal transmembrane anchor segments required for insertion of the protein into the membrane.