A putative novel alpha/beta hydrolase ORFan family in Bacillus.

A large number of sequences in each newly sequenced genome correspond to lineage and species-specific proteins, also known as ORFans. Amongst these ORFans, a large number are sequences with unknown structures and functions. We have identified a family of sequences, annotated as hypothetical proteins, which are specific to Bacillus and have carried out a computational study aimed at characterizing this family. Fold-recognition methods predict that these sequences belong to the alpha/beta hydrolase fold. We suggest possible catalytic triads for the ORFans and propose a hypothesis regarding the possible families within the alpha/beta hydrolase superfamily to which they may belong.