International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of Cholesterol Catabolic Genes/Proteins in Mycobacterial Species Rochelle van Wyk 1 , Mari van Wyk 1, Samson Sitheni Mashele 1, David R. Nelson 2 and Khajamohiddin Syed 3,* 1 Unit for Drug Discovery Research, Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein 9300, Free State, South Africa;
[email protected] (R.v.W.);
[email protected] (M.v.W.);
[email protected] (S.S.M.) 2 Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA;
[email protected] 3 Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Agriculture, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South Africa * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +27-0359026875 Received: 21 January 2019; Accepted: 12 February 2019; Published: 27 February 2019 Abstract: In dealing with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of the deadliest human disease—tuberculosis (TB)—utilization of cholesterol as a carbon source indicates the possibility of using cholesterol catabolic genes/proteins as novel drug targets. However, studies on cholesterol catabolism in mycobacterial species are scarce, and the number of mycobacterial species utilizing cholesterol as a carbon source is unknown. The availability of a large number of mycobacterial species’ genomic data affords an opportunity to explore and predict mycobacterial species’ ability to utilize cholesterol employing in silico methods. In this study, comprehensive comparative analysis of cholesterol catabolic genes/proteins in 93 mycobacterial species was achieved by deducing a comprehensive cholesterol catabolic pathway, developing a software tool for extracting homologous protein data and using protein structure and functional data.