Research article
Towards a comprehensive structural coverage of completed genomes: a structural genomics viewpoint
Russell L Marsden, Tony A Lewis and Christine A Orengo
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Background
Structural genomics initiatives were established with the aim of solving protein structures on a large-scale. For many initiatives, such as the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI), the primary aim of target selection is focussed towards structurally characterising protein families which, so far, lack a structural representative. It is therefore of considerable interest to gain insights into the number and distribution of these families, and what efforts may be required to achieve a comprehensive structural coverage across all protein families.
Results
In this analysis we have derived a comprehensive domain annotation of the genomes using CATH, Pfam-A and Newfam domain families. We consider what proportions of structurally uncharacterised families are accessible to high-throughput structural genomics pipelines, specifically those targeting families containing multiple prokaryotic orthologues. In measuring the domain coverage of the genomes, we show the benefits of selecting targets from both structurally uncharacterised domain families, whilst in addition, pursuing additional targets from large structurally characterised protein superfamilies.
Conclusion
This work suggests that such a combined approach to target selection is essential if structural genomics is to achieve a comprehensive structural coverage of the genomes, leading to greater insights into structure and the mechanisms that underlie protein evolution.
BMC Bioinformatics 2007, 8:86. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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