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Main Authors: Li, Qing-Mei, He, Li-Sheng, Wang, Yong
Format: Artículo científico
Language:en
Published: iScience 2026
Online Access:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41623458/
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author Li, Qing-Mei
He, Li-Sheng
Wang, Yong
author_facet Li, Qing-Mei
He, Li-Sheng
Wang, Yong
Li, Qing-Mei
He, Li-Sheng
Wang, Yong
collection PubMed - marine biology
contents Small proteins from prokaryotes in the marine water column at full ocean depth. Li, Qing-Mei He, Li-Sheng Wang, Yong Small proteins (SPs, ≤50 aa) are often overlooked in genomics. We conducted the first systematic analysis of prokaryotic SPs across the full ocean-depth gradient. From 433,311 short open reading frames (sORFs) predicted from 71 western Pacific metagenomes, we identified 193,281 SP clusters. Filtration yielded 75,581 prevalent SPs, including 4,307 high-confidence clusters (RfSPs). Notably, 87.09% of RfSPs lacked non-marine homologs, and ∼70% contained unknown domains. While most (65.57%) were phylum-specific, twelve were distributed across ≥5 phyla, and some were prophage-associated. Geographically, twenty-three core RfSPs were universally present. Co-occurrence analysis revealed that interacting RfSPs typically originated from the same or adjacent zones. Finally, we confirmed the transcription of 8.20% RfSP clusters in deep-sea metatranscriptomes. The zone-specific transcription of certain RfSPs suggests adaptive functions, such as stress response and molecular chaperoning, in distinct marine environments. Our study reveals SPs as a critical strategy for prokaryotic adaptation to deep-sea stressors.
format Artículo científico
id pubmed_41623458
institution PubMed
language en
publishDate 2026
publisher iScience
record_format pubmed
spellingShingle Small proteins from prokaryotes in the marine water column at full ocean depth.
Li, Qing-Mei
He, Li-Sheng
Wang, Yong
Small proteins from prokaryotes in the marine water column at full ocean depth. Li, Qing-Mei He, Li-Sheng Wang, Yong Small proteins (SPs, ≤50 aa) are often overlooked in genomics. We conducted the first systematic analysis of prokaryotic SPs across the full ocean-depth gradient. From 433,311 short open reading frames (sORFs) predicted from 71 western Pacific metagenomes, we identified 193,281 SP clusters. Filtration yielded 75,581 prevalent SPs, including 4,307 high-confidence clusters (RfSPs). Notably, 87.09% of RfSPs lacked non-marine homologs, and ∼70% contained unknown domains. While most (65.57%) were phylum-specific, twelve were distributed across ≥5 phyla, and some were prophage-associated. Geographically, twenty-three core RfSPs were universally present. Co-occurrence analysis revealed that interacting RfSPs typically originated from the same or adjacent zones. Finally, we confirmed the transcription of 8.20% RfSP clusters in deep-sea metatranscriptomes. The zone-specific transcription of certain RfSPs suggests adaptive functions, such as stress response and molecular chaperoning, in distinct marine environments. Our study reveals SPs as a critical strategy for prokaryotic adaptation to deep-sea stressors.
title Small proteins from prokaryotes in the marine water column at full ocean depth.
url https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41623458/