Genome fingerprint scanning for protein identification and gene finding

The genome fingerprint scanning (GFS) system was developed to link proteomic data, consisting of peptide mass fingerprints and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) data, to the genome sequence of an organism. It maps MS data directly to the genomic locus responsible for expression of a protein, without relying on prior genome annotation. The GFS approach provides the intriguing possibility of identifying novel genes straight from protein data, thereby potentially enhancing ongoing efforts to annotate the genomes.