def create_regex_string(inputseq):
    """ adds '-*' between each aa or nt/aa in a DNA or protein sequence, so that a particular
    aligned sequence can be identified via a regex search, even if it contains gaps
    inputseq : 'LQQLWNA'
    output   : 'L-*Q-*Q-*L-*W-*N-*A'
    """
    search_string = ''
    for letter in inputseq:
        letter_with_underscore = letter + '-*'
        search_string += letter_with_underscore
    return search_string[:-2]
