Identification of the conserved hypothetical protein BPSL0317 in Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243

Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 is the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease which is endemic in Northern Australia and Southeastern Asia. The genome encodes several essential proteins including those currently annotated as hypothetical proteins. We studied the conservation and the essentiality of expressed hypothetical proteins in normal and different stress conditions. Based on the comparative genomics, we identified a hypothetical protein, BPSL0317, a potential essential gene that is being expressed in all normal and stress conditions. BPSL0317 is also phylogenetically conserved in the Burkholderiales order suggesting that this protein is crucial for survival among the order’s members. BPSL0317 therefore has a potential to be a candidate antimicrobial drug target for this group of bacteria.