Selenoproteins are proteins known to be conserved through evolution, and its principal characteristic is to present Selenocysteine (Sec) as an aminoacid. Selenoproteins although having some structural functions are primarily involved in redox metabolism, and it’s particular aminoacid is encoded by a UGA codon that usually acts as a STOP codon. In order to ensure that the Sec is incorporated in the protein sequence, a complex mRNA secondary structure known as the SECIS element is required.

The aim of the project developed is to characterize and annotate the selenoproteome of the species Haplochromis burtoni by comparison with Homo Sapiens and Zebra fish genomes. These two reference organisms, which are widely studied and annotated, would help the localization of selenoproteins in our interest species.

In order to automatize and eneasier the analysis and the identification of selenoproteins a Python programme was developed. In this programme, each protein was automatically analyzed with tblastn, exonerate, and t-coffee. As a result, an alignment between the protein of reference and the predicted protein in Haplochromis burtoni was obtained. Additionally, ´Seblastian was used to predict possible selenoproteins and Secis elements in the giving sequence.

In this study, 24 selenoprotein genes, 6 machinery genes and 11 Cys-containing homologs were identified in Haplochromis burtoni genome. On the other hand, INSERT selenoproteins found in H. sapiens were not predicted as selenoproteins in our animal, and one protein was not even found in Haplochromis burtoni genome. All together, it is expected that the results summarized in the present article might help clarify the Haplochromis burtoni genome annotation.