Open AccessConserved ‘hypothetical’ proteins: new hints and new puzzles
Author(s) -
Galperin Michael Y.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
comparative and functional genomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1532-6268
pISSN - 1531-6912
DOI - 10.1002/cfg.66
Subject(s) - biology , computational biology , ftsz , conserved sequence , genome , comparative genomics , function (biology) , hypothetical protein , structural genomics , genomics , genetics , gene , protein structure , bacterial protein , peptide sequence , biochemistry
Conserved hypothetical proteins, i.e. conserved proteins whose functions are still unknown, pose a challenge not just to functional genomics but also to general biology. For many conserved proteins, computational analysis provides only a general prediction of biochemical function; their exact biological functions have to be established through direct experimentation. In the few cases when this has been accomplished, the results were remarkable, revealing the deoxyxylulose pathway and a new essential enzyme, the ITP pyrophosphatase. Comparative genome analysis is also instrumental in illuminating unsolved problems in biology, e.g. the mechanism of FtsZ‐independent cell division in Chlamydia , Ureaplasma and Aeropyrum or the role of uncharacterized conserved domains in signal transduction. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.