#!/usr/bin/env perl use strict; use warnings; $/ = '/Hit_accession>'; while(){ if( m{(.+?) odorant-bin} ){ my $match = $1; s{().+?()}{$1$match$2}; } print $_; } __DATA__ 6 gnl|BL_ORD_ID|3665984 gi|158703516|gb|ABW77886.1| odorant-bin... 3665984 7 gnl|BL_ORE_ID|3665984 gi|153326716|gb|ABF88997.2| odorant-bin... 3665984