use strict; use warnings; my $count_A = 0; while ( my $line = ) { next if $line =~ m/^>/; # This line probably unnecessary if your data set is as well-behaved as it looks. $count_A++ if $line =~ m/A$/; } print "$count_A\n"; __DATA__ >2 AAAAAAAAACAAAAGAACGAAGAAGT >3 AAAAAAAAACAACCGAAAAATAGAAAC >4 AAAAAAAAACAAGAAGGACTAGACC >7 AAAAAAAAACAAGGACTGGTTTATCAG >8 AAAAAAAAACAAGTTTCTCTGTGACT >12 AAAAAAAAACACAGACGTAGAATTGT >14 AAAAAAAAACACGACCGTTCGCTTTGA >15 AAAAAAAAACACGACTGTTCGCTTT >16 AAAAAAAAACACTATGAGCCAGAAC