Unraveling diversity by isolating peptide sequences specific to distinct taxonomic groups.

ABSTRACT: The identification of succinct, universal fingerprints that enable the characterization of individual taxonomies can reveal insights into trait development and can have widespread applications in pathogen diagnostics, human healthcare, ecology and the characterization of biomes. Here, we investigated the existence of peptide k-mer sequences that are exclusively present in a specific taxonomy and absent in every other taxonomic level, termed taxonomic quasi-primes. By analyzing proteomes across 24,073 species, we identified quasi-prime peptides specific to superkingdoms, kingdoms, and phyla, uncovering their taxonomic distributions and functional relevance. These peptides exhibit remarkable sequence uniqueness at six- and seven-amino-acid lengths, offering insights into evolutionary diverge

SUBMITTER: Bochalis E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11839104 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature