Cargando…

Towards functional characterization of archaeal genomic dark matter

A substantial fraction of archaeal genes, from ∼30% to as much as 80%, encode ‘hypothetical' proteins or genomic ‘dark matter'. Archaeal genomes typically contain a higher fraction of dark matter compared with bacterial genomes, primarily, because isolation and cultivation of most archaea...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Makarova, Kira S., Wolf, Yuri I., Koonin, Eugene V.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Portland Press Ltd. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6393860/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30710061
http://dx.doi.org/10.1042/BST20180560
Descripción
Sumario:A substantial fraction of archaeal genes, from ∼30% to as much as 80%, encode ‘hypothetical' proteins or genomic ‘dark matter'. Archaeal genomes typically contain a higher fraction of dark matter compared with bacterial genomes, primarily, because isolation and cultivation of most archaea in the laboratory, and accordingly, experimental characterization of archaeal genes, are difficult. In the present study, we present quantitative characteristics of the archaeal genomic dark matter and discuss comparative genomic approaches for functional prediction for ‘hypothetical' proteins. We propose a list of top priority candidates for experimental characterization with a broad distribution among archaea and those that are characteristic of poorly studied major archaeal groups such as Thaumarchaea, DPANN (Diapherotrites, Parvarchaeota, Aenigmarchaeota, Nanoarchaeota and Nanohaloarchaeota) and Asgard.