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GATE 2025 BT Q.47: solution and answer

GATE 2025 · BTQ.47 · 2 marks · MCQ

Correctly match the following Bioinformatic tool/Database with its respective Utility.

Bioinformatic tool/Database:
P. BLAST
Q. Bowtie
R. AlphaFold
S. PDB

Utility:
1. Database for 3D protein structures
2. Tool to identify similarity of a query sequence to existing sequences available in databanks
3. Tool to align short read DNA sequences obtained from Next-generation sequencing to a reference genome
4. AI tool to predict protein structures

  1. (A)

    P-2; Q-3; R-1; S-4

  2. (B)

    P-2; Q-3; R-4; S-1

  3. (C)

    P-3; Q-2; R-4; S-1

  4. (D)

    P-4; Q-1; R-2; S-3

See the question in the paper
GATE 2025 BT question 47Tap to open full size

Answer and solution

ANSWER

The correct answer is Option B: P-2 (BLAST → similarity search tool), Q-3 (Bowtie → short-read NGS aligner), R-4 (AlphaFold → AI protein structure prediction), S-1 (PDB → 3D protein structure database).

Official answer: BSource: Official answer key, GATE 2025 BT (IIT Roorkee)

  1. BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) is a sequence-similarity search tool: given a query sequence, it searches sequence databanks and reports the most similar/homologous sequences. This matches Utility 2 ("Tool to identify similarity of a query sequence to existing sequences available in databanks"). So P-2.

  2. Bowtie is a fast, memory-efficient short-read aligner built for next-generation sequencing data: it aligns short DNA reads to a reference genome. This matches Utility 3 ("Tool to align short read DNA sequences obtained from Next-generation sequencing to a reference genome"). So Q-3.

  3. AlphaFold is DeepMind's deep-learning (AI) system that predicts a protein's 3D structure directly from its amino-acid sequence, without requiring experimental structure determination. This matches Utility 4 ("AI tool to predict protein structures"). So R-4.

  4. PDB (Protein Data Bank) is the global repository that archives experimentally determined 3D structures of proteins and other biomolecules (solved by X-ray crystallography, NMR, cryo-EM, etc.). This matches Utility 1 ("Database for 3D protein structures"). So S-1.

  5. Assembling the full mapping: P-2; Q-3; R-4; S-1.

  6. Comparing against the options: (A) P-2;Q-3;R-1;S-4 wrongly swaps R and S (would make AlphaFold a structure database and PDB an AI predictor - the reverse of their real roles). (C) P-3;Q-2;R-4;S-1 wrongly swaps P and Q (BLAST is not a read-aligner; Bowtie is not a similarity-search tool). (D) P-4;Q-1;R-2;S-3 misassigns every pair. Only option (B) - P-2;Q-3;R-4;S-1 - correctly matches all four tools to their real functions.

KEY IDEA

Match each bioinformatics tool/database to its core function: BLAST = sequence similarity search; Bowtie = short-read genome alignment; AlphaFold = AI-based structure prediction; PDB = repository of solved 3D structures.

WATCH OUT FOR

Confusing BLAST (sequence similarity search against databanks) with a structure database, or confusing PDB (a repository of experimentally solved structures) with AlphaFold (a predictive AI tool) — both concern protein structure but serve opposite roles (storage vs. prediction).

From the GATE 2025 BT paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 11 Bioinformatics questions, with notes

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