In silico identification of new secretory peptide genes in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Bioactive peptides play critical roles in regulating most biological processes in animals. The elucidation of the amino acid sequence of these regulatory peptides is crucial for our understanding of animal physiology. Most of the (neuro) peptides currently known were identified by purification and subsequent amino acid sequencing. With the entire genome sequence of some animals now available, it has become possible to predict novel putative peptides. In this way, BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Searching Tool) analysis of the Drosophila melanogaster genome has allowed annotation of 36 secretory peptide genes so far....