The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome

The proteome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is notable for the pervasive occurrence of homopeptides or low-complexity regions (i.e., regions that are made from a small subset of amino-acid residue types). The most prevalent of these are made from residues encoded by adenine/thymidine...

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Main Authors: Yue Wang, Hsin Jou Yang, Paul M. Harrison
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2020-10-01
Series:PeerJ
Subjects:
Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/9940.pdf
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author Yue Wang
Hsin Jou Yang
Paul M. Harrison
author_facet Yue Wang
Hsin Jou Yang
Paul M. Harrison
author_sort Yue Wang
collection DOAJ
description The proteome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is notable for the pervasive occurrence of homopeptides or low-complexity regions (i.e., regions that are made from a small subset of amino-acid residue types). The most prevalent of these are made from residues encoded by adenine/thymidine (AT)-rich codons, in particular asparagine. We examined homopeptide occurrences within protein domains in P. falciparum. Homopeptide enrichments occur for hydrophobic (e.g., valine), or small residues (alanine or glycine) in short spans (<5 residues), but these enrichments disappear for longer lengths. We observe that short asparagine homopeptides (<10 residues long) have a dramatic relative depletion inside protein domains, indicating some selective constraint to keep them from forming. We surmise that this is possibly linked to co-translational protein folding, although there are specific protein domains that are enriched in longer asparagine homopeptides (≥10 residues) indicating a functional linkage for specific poly-asparagine tracts. Top gene ontology functional category enrichments for homopeptides associated with diverse protein domains include “vesicle-mediated transport”, and “DNA-directed 5′-3′ RNA polymerase activity”, with various categories linked to “binding” evidencing significant homopeptide depletions. Also, in general homopeptides are substantially enriched in the parts of protein domains that are near/in IDRs. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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spelling doaj.art-4a9c3ba235e34dcba9f2d37d00b98dea2023-12-03T10:15:16ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-10-018e994010.7717/peerj.9940The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteomeYue WangHsin Jou YangPaul M. HarrisonThe proteome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is notable for the pervasive occurrence of homopeptides or low-complexity regions (i.e., regions that are made from a small subset of amino-acid residue types). The most prevalent of these are made from residues encoded by adenine/thymidine (AT)-rich codons, in particular asparagine. We examined homopeptide occurrences within protein domains in P. falciparum. Homopeptide enrichments occur for hydrophobic (e.g., valine), or small residues (alanine or glycine) in short spans (<5 residues), but these enrichments disappear for longer lengths. We observe that short asparagine homopeptides (<10 residues long) have a dramatic relative depletion inside protein domains, indicating some selective constraint to keep them from forming. We surmise that this is possibly linked to co-translational protein folding, although there are specific protein domains that are enriched in longer asparagine homopeptides (≥10 residues) indicating a functional linkage for specific poly-asparagine tracts. Top gene ontology functional category enrichments for homopeptides associated with diverse protein domains include “vesicle-mediated transport”, and “DNA-directed 5′-3′ RNA polymerase activity”, with various categories linked to “binding” evidencing significant homopeptide depletions. Also, in general homopeptides are substantially enriched in the parts of protein domains that are near/in IDRs. The implications of these findings are discussed.https://peerj.com/articles/9940.pdfHomopeptideLow-complexityPlasmodiumIntrinsic disorderAsparagineProtein domains
spellingShingle Yue Wang
Hsin Jou Yang
Paul M. Harrison
The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
PeerJ
Homopeptide
Low-complexity
Plasmodium
Intrinsic disorder
Asparagine
Protein domains
title The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
title_full The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
title_fullStr The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
title_short The relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the Plasmodium falciparum proteome
title_sort relationship between protein domains and homopeptides in the plasmodium falciparum proteome
topic Homopeptide
Low-complexity
Plasmodium
Intrinsic disorder
Asparagine
Protein domains
url https://peerj.com/articles/9940.pdf
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