Gene networks have become quite popular for genome-wide representation of the complex functional organization of biological systems. In particular, gene co-expression networks prove quite useful in the functional annotation of unknown genes. This project combined the mutual ranks of co-expression data with protein-protein networks in an exploratory analysis of pairs of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter and Lipid Transfer Protein (LTP) genes to try to find functional linkage between the two protein types. ABC transporters are known to function in cross-membrane transport while LTPs are known to taxi small hydrophobic molecules. The question lies in whether or not these proteins directly interact in similar pathways. The analysis resulted in a list of 50 different ABC transporter-LTP gene pairs with 7 pairs having mutual ranks below 10, indicating that they are very likely co-expressed and may have a functional linkage. Of the seven most promising pairs identified, one interaction has already been experimentally characterized.
Specifically, here is the table of TAIR IDs for potentially linked pairs:
These results prove to be promising and further exploration of the gene pairs may shed more light on the lipid transport mechanisms of vital cellular pathways.
A full discussion of project results can be found here.