Conserved ‘hypothetical’ proteins: new hints and new puzzles

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Abstract
Conserved hypothetical proteins, i.e. conserved proteins whose functions are still unknown, pose a challenge not just to functional genomics but also to general biology. For many conserved proteins, computational analysis provides only a general prediction of biochemical function; their exact biological functions have to be established through direct experimentation. In the few cases when this has been accomplished, the results were remarkable, revealing the deoxyxylulose pathway and a new essential enzyme, the ITP pyrophosphatase. Comparative genome analysis is also instrumental in illuminating unsolved problems in biology, e.g. the mechanism of FtsZ‐independent cell division in Chlamydia, Ureaplasma and Aeropyrum or the role of uncharacterized conserved domains in signal transduction. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.