Prediction of membrane proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a support vector machine algorithm.

We report our finding of linear clustering of signal sequences at the N-terminus of M.tb membrane proteins, directing membrane localization. Although it is widely accepted that membrane proteins have signal peptides at the N-terminus, statistical ensemble analysis of Support Vector Machine prediction results indicate that M.tb membrane proteins have embedded N-terminal sequence patterns beyond the signal peptides previously identified in E. coli. The additional patterns at the N-terminus of M.tb membrane proteins may have correlations to their unique enzymatic functions and unusual characteristics such as membrane interaction in pathogenes.