What does + stand for in sequence alignment (blastp)?

Question

[reddishvilla_12]

Currently using blastp to compare primary sequences of proteins between organisms, here is one of the sequence alignments:

Query  116  THKTVGQQ  123
            T KT+G Q
Sbjct  96   TVKTMGHQ  103

Confused as to what the + represents. Help appreciated.

[reddishvilla_12]

I thought it might have something to do with the amino acids. Valine is interchangeable with methionine so I thought it might represent that. Not 100% sure though.

Answer 1

[GenoMax]

Having edited the OP to correct the display format: the + sign in this case means functional equivalence (even though those two AA are not identical as some others in that alignment).
@decosterwouter responded when the sequences looked as if they were tab formatted blast output.

[reddishvilla_12]

Thanks a lot! So because valine and methionine are both non-polar aliphatic amino acids they both function the same?

[GenoMax]

They are the the same general class and can possibly replace each other (context would be important) and not affect the overall function/structure. Remember the AA substitution matrices (PAM, BLOSUM etc).

Answer 2

[WouterDeCoster]

It means this sequence is found on the forward strand of the chromosome/contig.

(nevermind, disregard this, see comment of genomax2)