Genome mining and sequence analysis of chemosensory soluble proteins in arthropods

Identifying protein-coding genes from genome and transcriptome data is the first and one of the most important steps towards their comprehensive study. This chapter introduces both general procedures for sequence mining, and specific approaches for recognizing characteristic motives and chemical properties in soluble proteins potentially involved in arthropod chemical communication. We describe (i) the workflow to identify members of the OBP (Odorant-Binding Proteins) and CSP (Chemosensory Proteins) families in genomic and transcriptomic sequences using our recently developed bioinformatic solution, BITACORA, and (ii) the main further steps to visualize and to accurately annotate these genes in the Apollo genome browser. The success of further biochemical, functional and evolutionary analyses largely depends on the quality of these initial steps.