6.2.3 Variants 

If the application describes variants of a sequence, e.g. "nucleotides 90-179 of SEQ ID No. 1 are deleted or substituted by another sequence", then paragraph 95 of WIPO Standard ST.26 applies. This paragraph defines that these variants should be described by annotation of the primary sequence. It is a recommendation but it is not compulsory as long as the specific variant sequence is not enumerated as such in the application.

If the applicant chooses to enter this information in the sequence listing, the following rules as defined in paragraph 95 of ST.26 should be followed:

(a)the variant may be represented by annotation of the primary sequence, where it contains variation(s) at a single location or multiple distinct locations and the occurrences of those variations are independent, 

(b)the variant should be represented as a separate sequence and assigned its own sequence identification number, where it contains variations at multiple distinct locations and the occurrences of those variations are interdependent, and 

(c)must be represented as a separate sequence and assigned its own sequence identification number, where it contains an inserted or substituted sequence that contains in excess of 1 000 residues.  

The following table indicates which feature key and qualifier should be used to annotate the variants according to the type of sequence and the type of variation (see paragraph 96 of WIPO Standard ST.26).