diff --git a/src/pairwise/alignment.jl b/src/pairwise/alignment.jl
index ee138323..df893562 100644
--- a/src/pairwise/alignment.jl
+++ b/src/pairwise/alignment.jl
@@ -29,6 +29,14 @@ Gets the query sequence of `pairwise_alignment`.
 """
 sequence(aln::PairwiseAlignment) = sequence(aln.a)
 
+"""
+    reference(aln::PairwiseAlignment)
+    
+Returns the reference sequence of the alignment.
+"""
+reference(aln::PairwiseAlignment) =  aln.b
+
+
 function Base.iterate(aln::PairwiseAlignment, ij=(2,1))
     i, j = ij
     if i > lastindex(aln.a.aln.anchors)
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 2cc4a678..d0d2fb97 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -556,9 +556,10 @@ end
             AlignmentAnchor(3, 3, 3, OP_SEQ_MATCH)
         ]
         seq = AlignedSequence("ACG", anchors)
-        ref = "ACG"
+        ref = "ACGA"
         aln = PairwiseAlignment(seq, ref)
         @test collect(aln) == [('A', 'A'), ('C', 'C'), ('G', 'G')]
+        @test BioAlignments.reference(aln) == ref
         result = PairwiseAlignmentResult(3, true, seq, ref)
         @test isa(result, PairwiseAlignmentResult) == true
         @test isa(alignment(result), PairwiseAlignment) == true