Genome‐wide analysis of integral membrane proteins from eubacterial, archaean, and eukaryotic organisms

Detailed statistical analyses of integral membrane proteins of the helix‐bundle class from eubacterial, archaean, and eukaryotic organisms for which genome‐wide sequence data are available suggest that uni‐cellular organisms appear to prefer proteins with 6 and 12 transmembrane segments, whereas Caenorhabditis elegans and Homo sapiens have a slight preference for proteins with seven transmemBRane segments.

Abstract

We have carried out detailed statistical analyses of integral membrane proteins of the helix-bundle class from eubacterial, archaean, and eukaryotic organisms for which genome-wide sequence data are available. Twenty to 30% of all ORFs are predicted to encode membrane proteins, with the larger genomes containing a higher fraction than the smaller ones. Although there is a general tendency that proteins with a smaller number of transmembrane segments are more prevalent than those with many, uni-cellular organisms appear to prefer proteins with 6 and 12 transmembrane segments, whereas Caenorhabditis elegans and Homo sapiens have a slight preference for proteins with seven transmembrane segments. In all organisms, there is a tendency that membrane proteins either have many transmembrane segments with short connecting loops or few transmembrane segments with large extra-membraneous domains. Membrane proteins from all organisms studied, except possibly the archaeon Methanococcus jannaschii, follow the so-called "positive-inside" rule; i.e., they tend to have a higher frequency of positively charged residues in cytoplasmic than in extra-cytoplasmic segments.