Consensus sequence

A consensus sequence is a sequence of nucleotides (in DNA or RNA) or amino acids (in proteins) that represents the most common or shared residue found at each position in a multiple sequence alignment. It highlights the most typical or representative features of a set of sequences that may demonstrate variability at each position. In the context of molecular biology, consensus sequences are often used to identify conserved regions that may be critical for function, such as binding sites for proteins or essential motifs within DNA regulatory regions.