Engineering transcription factors with novel DNA-binding specificity using comparative genomics.

ABSTRACT: The transcriptional program for a gene consists of the promoter necessary for recruiting RNA polymerase along with neighboring operator sites that bind different activators and repressors. From a synthetic biology perspective, if the DNA-binding specificity of these proteins can be changed, then they can be used to reprogram gene expression in cells. While many experimental methods exist for generating such specificity-altering mutations, few computational approaches are available, particularly in the case of bacterial transcription factors. In a previously published computational study of nitrogen oxide metabolism in bacteria, a small number of amino-acid residues were found to determine the specificity within the CRP (cAMP receptor protein)/FNR (fumarate and nitrate reductase regulatory

SUBMITTER: Desai TA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2677863 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature