Structural Analysis and Genomic Mapping of a Novel Orphan Protein on Octopus bimaculoides Chromosome 9.

This technical report details the discovery of a novel, high-complexity orphan protein (861aa) located on Chromosome 9 of Octopus bimaculoides. Utilizing AlphaFold 3 for protein structure prediction, the study reveals a unique structural fold with no established terrestrial homologs in current genomic databases. Furthermore, the research presents a comparative analysis between the identified genomic sequences and the prebiotic chemical signatures reported from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to Asteroid Bennu. The findings explore the potential for non-terrestrial biological seeding and offer a new computational framework for identifying anomalous proteins in marine cephalopods.