title: An Escherichia coli gene showing a potential ancestral relationship to the genes for the mitochondrial import site proteins ISP42 and MOM38.
abstract: An ORF (OrfT) of 1911 base pairs, upstream of the hip operon in Escherichia coli at map position 33.82 has been identified. The protein encoded by this sequence is predicted to have a molecular mass of 68,249 Da and the carboxyterminal 276 residues shows 26.8% and 25.4% identity with the import site proteins ISP42 and MOM38 from the mitochondrial outer membrane of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Neurospora crassa, respectively. These mitochondrial membrane proteins have been shown to be essential components of the protein translocation apparatus in yeast. These similarities raise the possibility that OrfT might represent the bacterial gene from which these eukaryotic genes evolved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cartwright
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timms
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lithgow
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Høj
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hoogenraad
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009492:Neurospora crassa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C066556:MOM38 protein, Neurospora crassa; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D033681:Mitochondrial Membrane Transport Proteins; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; C066555:Tom40 protein, S cerevisiae; C085121:ydeK protein, E coli