Comparative genomics study for identification of putative drug targets in Salmonella typhi Ty2

- The metabolic pathway analysis and comparison of Salmonella typhi ty2 and Homo sapiens was undertaken.
- Pathway comparisons of host and pathogen resulted in 28 unique and 70 common pathways.
- From these pathways, 46 genes were found to be essential and non host in the genome of Salmonella typhi ty2.
- Further filtration of these targets was carried out via drug target prioritization parameters resulting in 20 drug targets.

ABSTRACTTyphoid presents a major health concern in developing countries with an estimated annual infection rate of 21 million. The disease is caused by Salmonella typhi, a pathogenic bacterium acquiring multiple drug resistance. We aim to identify proteins that could prove to be putative drug targets in the genome of S. typhi str. Ty2. We employed comparative and subtractive genomics to identify targets that are absent in humans and are essential to S. typhi Ty2. We concluded that 46 proteins essential to pathogen are absent in the host genome. Filtration on the basis of drug target prioritization singled out 20 potentially therapeutic targets. Their absence in the host and specificity to S. typhi Ty2 makes them ideal targets for treating typhoid in Homo sapiens. 3D structures of two of the final target enzymes, MurA and MurB have been predicted via homology modeling which are then used for a docking study.