in reply to Assigning multiple lines into first element of array

Here is an easy way to get very close to what you want. The '>' is removed from the start of every line and it is added to the end of every line (except the last).
use strict; use warnings; use Data::Dumper; my $filename = 'file.fasta'; open( my $MY_HANDLE, '<', $filename ) or die "Couldn't open file"; (undef, my @chars) = do{local $/="\n>"; <$MY_HANDLE>}; print Dumper(\@chars);

OUTPUT:

$VAR1 = [ 'NM_001198855.1 Homo sapiens cytochrome P450 family 2 subfam +ily C memb er 8 (CYP2C8) ACATGTCAAAGAGACACACACTAAATTAGCAGGGAGTGTTATAAAAACTTTGGAGTGCAAGCTCACAGCT GTCTTAATAAGAAGAGAAGGCTTCAATGGAACCTTTTGTGGTCCTGGTGCTGTGTCTCTCTTTTATGCTT CTCTTTTCACTCTGGAGACAGAGCTGTAGGAGAAGGAAGCTCCCTCCTGGCCCCACTCCTCTTCCTATTA >', 'NR_029834.1 Homo sapiens microRNA 200a (MIR200A), microRNA CCGGGCCCCTGTGAGCATCTTACCGGACAGTGCTGGATTTCCCAGCTTGACTCTAACACTGTCTGGTAAC GATGTTCAAAGGTGACCCGC >', 'AC067940.1 Homo sapiens clone RP11-818E9, LOW-PASS SEQUENCE + SAMPLING AAATACAACTTTAAATCAAAACGGTAAAAATTCCACTCTTTCATACTAACTTCAAAAGTATTTGCTTTAA AAAAAAAGNNNNNNNNNNAAACTGAATTTCTATTAAGCATCTATTTATAGAAGAGAGTAAACACCCCGTG AATAAAAGACAGAGAATTGTAGCAGCCCGAAGTCCCTTTTCTCTCCTCCCAAGCATTTGGCTCTGGTCCA AATTCACATATCCTGCTCCGTAAAACAAAGTGCCTTGGTTAACCTAACGTTATTCCTTGAACAGTAGTTT AGTGATCAACTAGTTTTTGTTGTTGTTGTTGTTTGAGACAGAGTCTCACTCTGTCGCCCAGGCTGGAGTG CAGTGGCGAGATCTCAGCTCACTGCAACCTCTGCTGCCCAGGTTCAAGGGATTCTCCTGCCTCAGCCTCC CAAGTAGCTGGTATTACAGGCACCTGCCACCGCGCCTGGCTAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTGTATTT ' ];

I also recommend that you check CPAN for modules that help with parsing fasta files. Sorry, I cannot offer more specific help.

Bill