Hans Thordal-Christensen, University of Copenhagen
26 May 2010
In the newly published article “Powdery mildew and rust fungal effector candidates share N-terminal Y/F/WxC-motif”, by Godfrey et al., we chose to use the term “Y/F/WxC” for the discovered motif. While this terminology is scientifically correct, it is practically awkward. Instead, we would like to suggest that we in the community use “YxC” as a more elegant and user-friendly term. Alternatively, we could use “FxC”, since phenylalanine (F) is the most common amino acid at the first position in the motif in the analyzed rust fungi. However, since tyrosine (Y) is the most common amino acid at this position in the barley powdery mildew fungus, in which we initially discovered the motif, we suggest to use “YxC” for the naming. In the paper, we describe examples where all three of these aromatic amino acids (Y, F and W) are substituted at this position in closely related effector candidates. This indicates that they are functionally redundant, making it more acceptable to use the simplified term, “YxC”.
“YxC” rather than “Y/F/WxC”
26 May 2010
In the newly published article “Powdery mildew and rust fungal effector candidates share N-terminal Y/F/WxC-motif”, by Godfrey et al., we chose to use the term “Y/F/WxC” for the discovered motif. While this terminology is scientifically correct, it is practically awkward. Instead, we would like to suggest that we in the community use “YxC” as a more elegant and user-friendly term. Alternatively, we could use “FxC”, since phenylalanine (F) is the most common amino acid at the first position in the motif in the analyzed rust fungi. However, since tyrosine (Y) is the most common amino acid at this position in the barley powdery mildew fungus, in which we initially discovered the motif, we suggest to use “YxC” for the naming. In the paper, we describe examples where all three of these aromatic amino acids (Y, F and W) are substituted at this position in closely related effector candidates. This indicates that they are functionally redundant, making it more acceptable to use the simplified term, “YxC”.
Hans Thordal-Christensen and Dale Godfrey
Competing interests
None declared