Functional Annotation Of Hypothetical Proteins From The Bacillus Paralicheniformis Strain Bac84 Reveals Proteins with Biotechnological Potentials – an In Silico Approach

A significant number of proteins in the genome of the Bacillus paralicheniformis strain Bac84 are annotated as functionally uncharacterized hypothetical proteins. Investigating these proteins' functions may help us to find novel targets for biotechnological applications. Therefore, the purpose of our research was to functionally annotate the hypothetical proteins from its genome. We employed a structured in-silico approach incorporating numerous bioinformatics tools and databases for functional annotation and characterization. Sequences of 414 hypothetical proteins were evaluated and we were able to successfully attribute a function to 37 hypothetical proteins. Moreover, we performed receiver operating characteristic analysis to assess the performance of various tools. Eight proteins were predicted with biotechnological potentials such as coenzyme A biosynthesis, phenylalanine biosynthesis, antibiotic biosynthesis, and others. Evaluation of the performance of the tools showed an accuracy of 98% which represented the rationality of the tools used. This work shows that this annotation strategy will make the functional characterization of unknown proteins easier and can find the target for further investigation.