Full Length Research Paper
Abstract
Predicted highly expressed (PHX) genes were analyzed in five human pathogens with significant translation selection measured by within-group correspondence analysis (WCA). Functional analysis showed that in the five genomes PHX genes involved in protein synthesis, constitute the largest functional category, followed by categories of energy metabolism and protein fate. The gene encoding pyruvate kinase involved in glycolysis was PHX gene in most genomes except Bacillus anthracis Ames, which preferred strictly aerobic environment. Special PHX genes were also found, such as genes encoding phosphotransferase (PTS) system mainly appeared in Streptococcus pneumoniae genome. The analysis of virulence factors indicates that only a few pathogenicity-related genes were predicted as PHX. This is contrary to previous observations of phytopathogens, where most virulence related genes were PHX. The PHX genes may provide potential drug targets for the design of new bactericide. Specially, PHX virulence factors may help for the understanding of the crucial mechanism of virulence of the bacterial pathogens when invading human body.
Key words: Highly expressed genes, human pathogen, E(g) measure, CAI; virulence related genes, inorganic pyrophosphatase.
Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.
This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0