This is a simple text format for DNA and protein sequence files developed by William Pearson in conjunction with his FASTA alignment software. The file has a single header line that begins with a “>” symbol followed by a sequence identifier. Any other text on the first line is also considered the header, and any text following the first carriage return/line feed is considered part of the sequence. Multiple sequences can be stored in the same text file by adding additional header lines and sequences after the end of the first sequence.