From Field Samples to Metagenome Sequence to Protein Structure (IMAGE)
Caption
In a study published Jan. 20, 2017 in Science, a team led by University of Washington researchers and including DOE JGI researchers reports that structural models have been generated for 12 percent of the protein families that had previously had no structural information available. This is a brief overview of the work. Top: Researchers gathering samples from Great Boiling Spring in Nevada. Left: a snapshot of aligned metagenomic sequences. Each row is a different sequence (the different colors are the different amino acid groups). Each position (or column) is compared to all other positions to detect patterns of co-evolution. Bottom: the strength of the top co-evolving residues is shown as blue dots, these are also shown as colored lines on the structure above. The goal is to make a structure that makes as many of these contacts as possible. Right: a cartoon of the protein structure predicted. The protein domain shown is from Pfam DUF3794, this domain is part of a Spore coat assembly protein SafA.
Credit
Image of Great Boiling Spring by Brian Hedlund, UNLV. Protein structure and composite image by Sergey Ovchinnikov, UW
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