P-EVALUE

P-values    The number of random HSPs with score >= S is described by a Poisson distribution [10,11]. This means that the probability of finding exactly a HSPs with score >=S is given by




where E is the E-value of S given by equation (1) above. Specifically the chance of finding zero HSPs with score >=S is e-E, so the probability of finding at least one such HSP is




This is the P-value associated with the score S. For example, if one expects to find three HSPs with score >= S, the probability of finding at least one is 0.95. The BLAST programs report E-value rather than P-values because it is easier to understand the difference between, for example, E-value of 5 and 10 than P-values of 0.993 and 0.99995. However, when E < 0.01, P-values and E-value are nearly identical.