the program i have written is open(FH,"input.txt") or die "cant open"; @array=; foreach(@array){ if($_!=~m/^>/) { $_=~s/\n//g; print "$_\n"; } } the desired result is #PLOT1 a b c d f g i a c g s h b h f d #PLOT2 b g d i s e w d u b a o n i o p w q c u s t r r y #PLOT3 e r t d v g v g b