Rv0691A Resolved · high auto-curated

H37Rv Rv0691A · MTBC0 - · 29 aa · 791757–791846 H37Rv (+) · RefSeq YP_007409348.2

Genomic neighbourhood (genome browser)

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Annotation: from legacy to revised

Legacy (H37Rv / Mycobrowser)mycofactocin precursor
MTBC0 PGAP re-annotation
Revised (this work)Mycofactocin precursor. Pfam: MftA (PF23709.2).
Functional category (TubercuList)intermediary metabolism and respiration

Auto-curated: this verdict and function were generated by rules from PGAP + Pfam + Foldseek and have not been hand-reviewed.

Annotated on the H37Rv protein: this gene has no 1:1 ancestral MTBC0 anchor (PE/PPE, paralogue, IS element, or otherwise unanchored CDS).

In the literature (TB corpus sweep) never studied

No publication mentions this gene in its title or abstract — not under its H37Rv locus tag, not under its gene name, and not under any ortholog identifier. Its annotation rests on sequence/structure evidence, with no primary study behind it.

This layer CITES the literature and adds context; it does not change the verdict or the function stated elsewhere in this fiche. This distinguishes a gene that is dark because nobody has looked from one that is dark despite having been studied. Source: PubMed (whole): H37Rv locus tag + GENE NAME + ortholog identifiers (Mb…, MMAR_…, MSMEG_…, ML…, MAB_…), under a mycobacterial context filter; hits verified against the abstract text. Species-context counts distinguish M. tuberculosis literature from literature on other mycobacteria. phase76/phase77, 2026-07-13.

Intrinsic disorder (sequence + structure) highly disordered

Predicted disorder72% of residues (metapredict) · mean AlphaFold pLDDT 78.0
Disordered regions1 IDR(s), longest 29 aa [0-29]

sequence-based disorder is high but AlphaFold folds it confidently (pLDDT>=70): treat the disorder call with caution (possible metapredict over-call)

A property (biophysics), not a function. No LLPS/condensate claim is made from disorder alone. Verdict unchanged. Source: metapredict v3 (Emenecker/Holehouse) per-residue disorder + AlphaFold mean pLDDT (annotation_mtbc P16.13).

Genomic-neighbour overlap (structural caveat) co-directional · 18 % of gene

NeighbourRv0692 (Rv0692, + strand)
Overlap16 bp, 18 % of this gene's length

co-directional overlap: ordinary (e.g. shared stop/start codons in an operon), not the Rv2438A-type artefact P20.1, derived from GFF3 gene coordinates, 2026-08-03.

Conditional expression context (iModulons)

Member of 1 independently-modulated gene set(s): Mycofactocin Synthesis Pathway.

iModulon membership (independently-modulated gene sets from a 647-sample RNA-seq compendium): the conditional co-expression context. Co-expression is a regulatory context, NOT a molecular function. Source: iModulonDB / modulome_mtb (Yoo 2022).

CRISPRi vulnerability

Vulnerability index 0.50 (95% CI -0.58 to 2.14). A more negative index = more vulnerable to knockdown (better drug-target quality); indicative threshold VI ≤ -6 = highly vulnerable.

Quantitative CRISPRi knockdown, graded (finer than binary Tn-seq essentiality). Source: CRISPRi vulnerability index (Bosch 2021, pebble.rockefeller.edu).

Legacy record & comparison (Mycobrowser)

Mycobrowser functionElectron carrier

The legacy Mycobrowser record is shown for verification. Mycobrowser is no longer maintained; its EC numbers predate recent nomenclature revisions, so a class change usually reflects re-numbering, not a conflict.

Orthologues (reciprocal best hits across mycobacteria)

M. bovis Mb0710A · 98.4% identity
M. smegmatis MSMEG_1421 · 66.7% identity
M. orygis RJtmp_000729 · 100.0% identity

Reciprocal-best-hit orthologues (DIAMOND) against the Mycobrowser reference proteomes. A missing species is informative: e.g. a gene absent from M. leprae was likely lost in its reductive genome evolution. Locus tags link to Mycobrowser.

Curated reference (UniProt)

UniProt P9WJ81 SwissProt · reviewed · Inferred from homology
UniProt nameMycofactocin precursor peptide
Curated functionPrecursor peptide that leads to mycofactocin (MFT) after extensive post-translational modifications by enzymes encoded by adjacent genes. Mycofactocin acts as a redox cofactor of nicotinamide-dependent oxidoreductases encoded in the same locus.

Functional vocabulary (eggNOG-mapper, orthology transfer)

Orthologous group2B3XY

Orthology-based transfer (eggNOG 5.0.2, diamond). EC/KO/GO/CAZy are computed annotations, not manual curation; cross-check against the primary literature before treating a specific reaction as established.

Outgroup conservation (beyond the MTBC) MTBC-specific

Genus-wide presence (~53 non-MTBC Mycobacterium) present in 0/53 (0%) · 0/4 closest MTBAP relatives
absent from ALL 53 non-MTBC Mycobacterium genomes tested (incl. the closest MTBAP relatives) — a candidate MTBC-specific genetic innovation / host-adaptation factor (confirm by synteny; rule out a short/low-complexity ORF and extreme divergence)
Phylostratum (deepest detected homolog) MTBC-specific Mycobacterium Mycobacteriaceae Corynebacteriales Actinomycetia Bacteria

short ORF (29 aa) a shallow stratum may reflect homology-detection failure, not true youth
absent from the whole genus and from all outgroups tested — a candidate MTBC-specific innovation (confirm by synteny; rule out detection failure for short/divergent ORFs)

Two orthogonal outgroup signals. M. canettii (the immediate outgroup) gives a deep-divergence dN/dS (a low value confirms a constrained, real gene; shown as confident only at ≥8 substitutions, else flagged low-power). Genus-wide presence/absence (tblastn vs assembled non-MTBC genomes) places the gene on the ancient-core ↔ MTBC-specific axis: a gene absent even from the closest MTBAP relatives is a candidate MTBC-specific innovation (possible host-adaptation factor, to confirm by synteny). The phylostratum extends that axis outside the genus (tblastn vs 13 reference genomes spanning Mycobacteriaceae → Corynebacteriales → Actinomycetia → outside the phylum): it is the deepest clade in which a homolog is still detected, i.e. a proxy for gene age. Read it with the null model in mind: a shallow (young) stratum can also reflect homology-detection failure for short or fast-evolving ORFs, so it is a descriptive axis, not a proof of novelty.

Essentiality (transposon mutagenesis)

DeJesus 2017 callNE · non-essential
What the call meansnon-essential
TA sites (Himar1) 4 in the ORF — 0 in the essential state, 0 growth-defect, 4 non-essential, 0 growth-advantage. Saturation 1.000, mean read count 87. A region of the protein devoid of TA sites is invisible to this assay: nothing can be inferred about it, in either direction.
CaveatStatistically thin call: only 4 TA (Himar1) sites in the whole ORF (atlas median 13; genes under 300 nt typically have very few). A DeJesus 2017 call built on so few independent observations is less robust than the same call on a longer gene, in either direction. Cross-check against the CRISPRi vulnerability index (independent of TA-site density) and, if this gene overlaps a neighbour (see Genomic-neighbour overlap section below), verify how many of its TA sites actually fall inside its own ORF. (P20.3)

Genome-wide Himar1 transposon essentiality in H37Rv (DeJesus 2017). An essential call (ES/ESD/GD) is strong, independent evidence that a "hypothetical" locus encodes a functional, selectively required gene — orthogonal to intra-species conservation.

Proteomics (mass spectrometry) not detected

Not detected in the mass-spectrometry datasets integrated by PaxDb. This is not evidence of absence: low-abundance, condition-specific, or MS-refractory proteins (e.g. small, highly hydrophobic, or repetitive PE/PPE families with few tryptic peptides) are systematically under-sampled.

Physico-chemical properties (computed, ProtParam)

Length29 aa
Molecular weight3.3 kDa
Theoretical pI4.05
GRAVY-0.138 (hydrophilic)
Aliphatic index80.3
Aromaticity0.069
Instability index15.7 (stable)

Computed from the ancestral MTBC0 sequence with the ExPASy ProtParam method (Biopython). Descriptive biophysical context: a positive GRAVY flags a hydrophobic (often membrane) protein, a high instability index (>40) predicts a short in-vitro half-life, an extreme pI hints at compartment or binding partner.

Domains (Pfam, hmmscan --cut_ga)

PfamAccessioni-EvalueResiduesDescription
MftAPF23709.2 5.3e-161–29 Mycofactocin precursor peptide

Genomic context (neighbours & predicted operon) operon of 4

Upstream (5' on genome)Rv0691c (- strand, 90 bp gap)
Downstream (3' on genome)Rv0692 (+ strand, -16 bp gap)
Predicted operon Rv0691A · Rv0692 · Rv0693 · Rv0694

Neighbours from the H37Rv annotation (+ strand). The operon is predicted by co-directional intergenic distance (same strand, gaps ≤50 bp) — a transcription-unit hypothesis, not a mapped TSS. For a "hypothetical", co-transcription with a characterised operon is a concrete functional lead (complements the STRING neighborhood channel below).

Functional interaction network (STRING v12, guilt-by-association)

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Node colour = verdict, dashed = hypothetical; edge colour = evidence (green experimental, orange genomic-context, grey co-expression), width ∝ score. Click a partner to open its page; "Explore full network" to walk the graph.

Closest characterised functional partner: mftB (mycofactocin system protein MftB), high confidence from genomic context alone (score 882 excluding text-mining).

PartnerProductScoreNo text-miningChannels (≥400)
Rv0692 mftB mycofactocin system protein MftB 984 882 ctx neighborhood:882 textmining:870
Rv0694 mftD mycofactocin system heme/flavin oxidoreductase MftD 976 882 ctx neighborhood:882 textmining:810
Rv0693 mftC mycofactocin radical SAM maturase MftC 957 882 ctx neighborhood:882 textmining:655
Rv0691c mftR mycofactocin biosynthesis transcriptional regulator MftR 573 573 ctx neighborhood:573
Rv0690c hyp hypothetical protein 573 573 ctx neighborhood:573
Rv0695 mftE mycofactocin system creatinine amidohydrolase family protein MftE 934 514 ctx neighborhood:514 textmining:870
Rv0696 mftF mycofactocin biosynthesis glycosyltransferase MftF 925 448 ctx neighborhood:448 textmining:870
Rv0697 mftG dehydrogenase 423 423 ctx neighborhood:423
Rv1872c lldD2 L-lactate dehydrogenase 497 72 textmining:481

STRING combines evidence channels (neighborhood, fusion, cooccurrence, coexpression, experimental, database, text-mining) into a 0–1000 score. The ctx badge marks edges carried by the genomic-context channels (conserved neighborhood, fusion, phylogenetic co-occurrence), which are independent of orthology and structure and the strongest signal for an unknown gene. The exp badge marks an experimentally-supported partner (measured interaction, experimental/database channel ≥400) as opposed to a purely predicted one — but note that the M. tuberculosis experimental interactome is dominated by a noisy bacterial-two-hybrid screen, so a strong measured link that contradicts the operon/localisation context is likely a false positive. The no text-mining column recomputes the score from data alone, so a link that does not depend on the literature is visible. Association is a function hypothesis, not proof: corroborate with the operon context and the primary literature before assigning a function.

Evidence

  • Annotation from H37Rv (no MTBC0 1:1 anchor; H37Rv protein used): mycofactocin precursor
  • Pfam (hmmscan --cut_ga): MftA PF23709.2 (E=5e-16)
  • (auto-curated by rules from PGAP + Pfam + Foldseek; not hand-reviewed)

Sources

  • Ancestral sequence & coordinates: Harrison LB et al. (2024), An imputed ancestral reference genome for the MTBC, doi:10.1101/2023.09.07.556366
  • Product annotation: NCBI PGAP on MTBC0; legacy from H37Rv NC_000962.3 (RefSeq YP_007409348.2)
  • Domains: Pfam-A via hmmscan --cut_ga — MftA (PF23709.2)
  • Sequence-level signal: ESM Atlas (EvolutionaryScale × BioHub) — exploratory
  • Controlled vocabulary: eggNOG-mapper 2.1.12 (Cantalapiedra et al. 2021, doi:10.1093/molbev/msab293), eggNOG 5.0 DB (Huerta-Cepas et al. 2019) — OG 2B3XY
  • Curated reference: UniProt P9WJ81 (SwissProt, reviewed; Inferred from homology)
  • Interaction network: STRING v12.0 (Szklarczyk et al. 2023, doi:10.1093/nar/gkac1000), taxon 83332, CC-BY 4.0 — 9 functional partner(s); context anchor mftB
  • Essentiality: genome-wide transposon mutagenesis in H37Rv — DeJesus et al. 2017 (mBio, doi:10.1128/mBio.02133-16, CC BY)
  • Functional category: TubercuList scheme (Cole et al. 1998, doi:10.1038/31159), via Mycobrowser (Kapopoulou et al. 2011, doi:10.1016/j.tube.2010.09.006)
  • Orthologues: reciprocal best hits (DIAMOND, Buchfink et al. 2021, doi:10.1038/s41592-021-01101-x) against Mycobrowser release 5 reference proteomes
  • Genomic context / operon: H37Rv annotation; operon predicted by co-directional intergenic distance (Salgado et al. 2000, doi:10.1073/pnas.030539397)
  • Physico-chemical properties: ExPASy ProtParam method via Biopython (Gasteiger et al. 2005), computed from the MTBC0 sequence
  • Primary literature: none located yet; annotation rests on the domain/homology sources above.

Ancestral MTBC0 protein sequence

>H37Rv|Rv0691A|
MDYETDTDTELVTETLVEEVSIDGMCGVY