ArticlemBio2013
Protein domains of unknown function are essential in bacteria.
Article in mBio, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 74 papers.
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Who cites it
74 citing papers in PubMed.
- ProtPen combines sequence- and structure-based approaches to facilitate protein function predictions on a proteome-wide scale.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- CysDuF database: annotation and characterization of cysteine residues in domain of unknown function proteins based on cysteine post-translational modifications, their protein microenvironments, biochemical pathways, taxonomy, and diseases.Database : the journal of biological databases and curation · 2026Article
- Tldi1 deficiency mediates Tlde1 self-toxic effect to regulate the adaptability ofFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- A machine learning-derived genomic dataset from bacteria frequently reported as probiotics.Frontiers in bioinformatics · 2026Article
- In silico interactome analysis reveals distinct and complementary metabolic roles of bacteria in stingless bee larval food.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- Structural switches: intracellular G-quadruplexes modulate DNA repair and genome maintenance inmBio · 2025Article
- New insights into the genomic information of an overlooked human pathogen: Bartonella rochalimae causative agent of Carrion's disease.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Article
- Essential nucleic acid omics: a theoretical foundation for early-stage users.Frontiers in bioinformatics · 2025Review
- Small DUF1127 proteins regulate bacterial phosphate metabolism through protein-protein interactions with the sensor kinase PhoR.microLife · 2025Article
- Geography, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Genomics ofMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Structural insights into RNA cleavage by a novel family of bacterial RNases.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Genome-wide characterization and analysis of rice DUF247 gene family.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Multiomics data integration, limitations, and prospects to reveal the metabolic activity of the coral holobiont.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2024Review
- Recent advances in the characterization of essential genes and development of a database of essential genes.iMeta · 2024Review
- Structural insights into RNA cleavage by a novel family of bacterial RNases.Research square · 2023Article
- Crystal structure of domain of unknown function 507 (DUF507) reveals a new protein fold.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Differential domains and endoproteolytic processing in dominant surface proteins of unknown function fromHeliyon · 2023Article
- Unraveling the Diverse Roles of Neglected Genes Containing Domains of Unknown Function (DUFs): Progress and Perspective.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Elucidating the functional roles of prokaryotic proteins using big data and artificial intelligence.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2023Review
14 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledMore than 20% of all protein domains are currently annotated as "domains of unknown function" (DUFs). About 2,700 DUFs are found in bacteria compared with just over 1,500 in eukaryotes. Over 800 DUFs are shared between bacteria and eukaryotes, and about 300 of these are also present in archaea. A total of 2,786 bacterial Pfam domains even occur in animals, including 320 DUFs. Evolutionary conservation suggests that many of these DUFs are important. Here we show that 355 essential proteins in 16 model bacterial species contain 238 DUFs, most of which represent single-domain proteins, clearly establishing the biological essentiality of DUFs. We suggest that experimental research should focus on conserved and essential DUFs (eDUFs) for functional analysis given their important function and wide taxonomic distribution, including bacterial pathogens. IMPORTANCE: The functional units of proteins are domains. Typically, each domain has a distinct structure and function. Genomes encode thousands of domains, and many of the domains have no known function (domains of unknown function [DUFs]). They are often ignored as of little relevance, given that many of them are found in only a few genomes. Here we show that many DUFs are essential DUFs (eDUFs) based on their presence in essential proteins. We also show that eDUFs are often essential even if they are found in relatively few genomes. However, in general, more common DUFs are more often essential than rare DUFs.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.