Apparatus includes a plurality of memory cells (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) addressable as rows and columns and a plurality of matching circuits configured to be coupled to respective bit lines associated with the columns A control circuit is configured to store respective reference sequences (e.g., binary-encoded k-mer patterns) in respective ones of the columns, to sequentially provide rows of bits stored in the memory cells and bits of a query to the matching circuits, and to identify one of the reference sequences as corresponding to the query responsive to comparisons by the matching circuits.