Mycoplasma genitalium is one of the sexually transmitted pathogens that cause significant morbidity in the host. The development of effective therapeutic procedures is urgently needed to counter the multi-drug resistant events imposed by this pathogen. In the current version of M. genitalium G37 genome, 512 open reading frames have been identified. The function of 91 proteins encoded by M. genitalium genes was found to be hypothetical and these proteins were termed hypothetical proteins (HPs). This study aims to carry out functional characterization of HPs by a systems biology approach. Functional assignments of 61 HPs were made with high confidence. They belong to different functional groups, such as DNA-binding proteins, helicases and transporters. Approximately 26% of HPs were identified as transporters, suggesting that M. genitalium is likely to rely on the exogenous nutrient supply for survival. A group of 20 proteins was predicted to be virulence factors, indicating the pathogenic characteristics of M. genitalium. Among the coding proteins, six proteins were pathogen-specific and could serve as potential drug targets by subtractive proteomics analysis. Network analysis of the HPs suggested that several critical proteins were involved in SOS response and stringent response in M. genitalium. These findings provided a better picture of M. genitalium genome and novel clues for studying the potential infection mechanism in this bacterium.

中文翻译：

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减法蛋白质组学和系统生物学分析揭示了生殖器支原体菌株G37中的新型药物靶标。

生殖道支原体是导致宿主严重发病的性传播病原体之一。迫切需要开发有效的治疗方法来应对这种病原体引起的多药耐药事件。在当前版本的生殖器支原体G37基因组中，已鉴定出512个开放阅读框。发现生殖器支原体基因编码的91种蛋白质的功能是假设的，这些蛋白质被称为假设蛋白质（HPs）。这项研究旨在通过系统生物学方法对HP进行功能表征。高可信度进行了61个HP的功能分配。它们属于不同的功能组，例如DNA结合蛋白，解旋酶和转运蛋白。大约26％的HP被确定为转运蛋白，表明M。生殖器可能依赖外源营养供应来维持生存。一组20种蛋白质被预测为致病因子，表明生殖器支原体的致病特征。在编码蛋白中，有6种蛋白具有病原体特异性，可以通过减蛋白质组学分析作为潜在的药物靶标。对HP的网络分析表明，生殖器支原体中的SOS反应和严格反应涉及几种关键蛋白。这些发现为生殖生殖支原体基因组提供了更好的图片，并为研究这种细菌的潜在感染机制提供了新线索。六种蛋白质具有病原体特异性，可以通过减蛋白质组学分析作为潜在的药物靶标。对HP的网络分析表明，生殖器支原体中的SOS反应和严格反应涉及几种关键蛋白。这些发现为生殖生殖支原体基因组提供了更好的图片，并为研究这种细菌的潜在感染机制提供了新线索。六种蛋白质具有病原体特异性，可以通过减蛋白质组学分析作为潜在的药物靶标。对HP的网络分析表明，生殖器支原体中的SOS反应和严格反应涉及几种关键蛋白。这些发现提供了生殖器支原体基因组的更好图片，以及研究该细菌潜在感染机制的新线索。