ANALYSIS OF MORPHOMETRIC VARIABILITY AN APPLICATION OF PARALLEL PROCESSING

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Disease caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a significant world-wide public health problem. A key to the successful management of this disease is defining the attributes which make the gonococcus a human pathogen. The ability of the gonococcus to multiply is dependent upon obtaining growth-essential iron. Withholding iron by vertebrate hosts is a principal mechanism of non-specific immunity against infection. Thus, the expression of a high-affinity iron-acquisition system is a prerequisite for infection. A central component in the process of iron acquisition by gonococci is the periplasmic iron-binding protein, Fbp. To more clearly elucidate the molecular basis of gonococcal iron-acquisition, we intend to study aspects related to Fbp which will specifically define its role in this mechanism and exploit is as a probe to define other molecular participants of the process. An essential component of our studies involves the use of computing facilities which will facilitate (1) the storage and analysis of nucleic acid and protein sequences, (2) database searches for sequences and structural motifs, (3) molecular modeling, and (4) statistical analysis of large amounts of data. In addition, graphical display of results is important for data analysis and presentation.