title: A hyperconserved protein in Prochlorococcus and marine Synechococcus.
abstract: An ORF (encoding a hyperconserved protein of unknown function) in Prochlorococcus/marine Synechococcus genomes that is 100% conserved on the amino acid level but lacks homologs outside this group is described here. Such conservation of an uncharacterized group-specific gene is unusual, and unexpected given the extensive genomic divergence of this group at other loci. Comparative analyses indicate that the hyperconserved protein, which may be involved in interactions with nucleic acids, is under stabilizing selection and has resided in these genomes since the last common ancestor of the group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, NS, Canada. olgazh@dal.ca
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zhaxybayeva
authors.forename: J Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gogarten
authors.forename: W Ford
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Doolittle
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D019295:Computational Biology; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D048929:Prochlorococcus / Q000235:genetics*; D046940:Synechococcus / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins