In silico identification and characterization of novel drug targets and outer membrane proteins in the fish pathogen Edwardsiella tarda

Abstract

The complete genome of the fish pathogen Edwardsiella tarda and the host Danio rerio (zebrafish) was subjected to subtractive genome analysis with the objective of identifying potential drug targets and vaccine candidates. The homologous proteins were excluded to prevent any chance of cytotoxic cross-reaction with the host. The nonparalogous proteins were analyzed for sequence homology with the Database of Essential Genes to determine the essentiality of the proteins for the bacteria. These essential proteins were further analyzed to predict the meta-bolic pathways in which they were involved. Cellular localization analysis was carried out to determine the possibility of the protein being present in the outer membrane. Outer membrane proteins may play an important role in the interaction with hosts and in bacterial pathogenicity. The study identified 171 of 3986 proteins as potential drug targets. The study also identified seven novel outer membrane proteins.