<p>I think the BLAST folder contains pre-formatted databases for BLAST whereas the GenBank folder contains sequences.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-10T20:47:22.110Z
2019-09-10T20:47:22.110Z
Ram RS
<p>What is the difference between these two databases?</p>

<p><a href="ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/db/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/db/</a>
 and
<a href="ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/genbank/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/genbank/</a></p>

<p>I understand that BLAST database has both nt for nucleotide and np for protein. But genbank is also for genomic database. So what is the difference between nt and Genbank databases?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-10T20:52:49.300Z
They are the same data, but the interegation of the database is very different. Blast uses a similarity algorithm but Genbank uses record referencing. It is better to limit the quesiton towards a specific biological problem for a more detailed answer
M__
<blast><blastn>
blast nt vs Genbank
# blast nt vs Genbank

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-09-10)

What is the difference between these two databases?

<ftp://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/blast/db/>
and
<ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/genbank/>

I understand that BLAST database has both nt for nucleotide and np for protein. But genbank is also for genomic database. So what is the difference between nt and Genbank databases?

Thanks

**Tags:** blast, blastn
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: They are the same data, but the interegation of the database is very different. Blast uses a similarity algorithm but Genbank uses record referencing. It is better to limit the quesiton towards a specific biological problem for a more detailed answer  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-09-10. Score: 2

I think the BLAST folder contains pre-formatted databases for BLAST whereas the GenBank folder contains sequences.


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