{c}

All <gene> names that start with an <Y> such as:
* <e. Coli K-12 MG1655 gene ytdX>
* <e. Coli K-12 MG1655 gene yaaX>
appear to be <proteins of unknown function>.

<UniProt> for example describes YaaX as "Uncharacterized protein YaaX".

As function is discovered, they then change it to a better name, e.g. to names such as the <E. Coli K-12 MG1655 transcription unit thrLABC> proteins all of which have a clear name due to <threonine>.

There are many other `y???` as of 2021! Though they do tend to be smaller <molecules>.


E. Coli K-12 MG1655 gene of unknown function