FAQs for this course

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions for this course. This step will be linked back from the relevant steps and you can always get back to it later

• I am unable to copy the files using the FTP link?

Most browsers no longer support downloading files from an FTP site. However there are a few steps you can take to access the files. You will need to use an FTP client to view and download the files. You can use a free client like Cyberduck, available for Mac and Windows users.

• I cannot start ACT?

Please check your Java version. The current version of ACT requires version 11 of Java to run successfully.

• What do the red and blue blocks mean between two genomes in ACT?

The red blocks denote synteny (conserved regions) between two genomes. The blue blocks are also synteny but denote regions of inversions.

• What do the yellow blocks mean in ACT?

The yellow block is the region you have selected. It highlights this with yellow to show you what region you have selected and if there is any synteny between the sequences you are comparing.

• What do I do if I get this error when using the BLAST function in Artemis/ACT: “Select a single feature to send to NCBI for searching”?

It seems you have selected multiple genes. Try selecting just one. Alternatively if you want to select multiple genes or region of interest you can manually search it by going to the BLAST website. Select the region > right click > view > bases > Bases of selection as FAST. You can copy the sequence and paste into the search box in BLAST (https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Blast.cgi).