Global alignment

In the process of global alignment, a DNA or a query sequence dictates the length of putative homologs. Based on sequence similarity to query, the top matches are generated by a given algorithm. The matches must bear similarity to the entire query sequence and any sequence having partial similarity to query will be excluded from the matches. In case of global-local alignment, the word "global" applies to the query and "local" applies to the hit. The matches have only partial similarity to the query and here, the query does not dictate the length of matches.