Isolation and characterisation of the ylmE homologue of Thermus thermophilus

Screening of a Thermus thermophilus genomic library led to the identificati on of a homologue of the ylmE gene. ylmE is highly conserved in widely dive rgent organisms from prokaryotes to mammals, suggesting an important, albei t currently unknown, cellular function. The 633 bp gene has a GC content of 69.2% overall and 90% in the third nucleotide position, while the gene pro duct is predicted to be a soluble cytoplasmic protein of 23441 Da. It belon gs to a family of conserved proteins of unknown function and exhibits amino acid identities ranging from 45% to 28% to the Aquifex aeolicus and Saccha romyces cerevisiae family members, respectively. We speculate that the gene product may be involved in a cellular stress response in T. thermophilus.