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. 2009 Dec 11;326(5959):1501.
doi: 10.1126/science.1178817.

A simple cipher governs DNA recognition by TAL effectors

Matthew J Moscou  1 , Adam J Bogdanove
Affiliations

A simple cipher governs DNA recognition by TAL effectors

Matthew J Moscou et al. Science. .

Abstract

TAL effectors of plant pathogenic bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas bind host DNA and activate genes that contribute to disease or turn on defense. Target specificity depends on an effector-variable number of typically 34 amino acid repeats, but the mechanism of recognition is not understood. We show that a repeat-variable pair of residues specifies the nucleotides in the target site, one pair to one nucleotide, with no apparent context dependence. Our finding represents a previously unknown mechanism for protein-DNA recognition that explains TAL effector specificity, enables target site prediction, and opens prospects for use of TAL effectors in research and biotechnology.

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Comment in

  • Plant science. DNA binding made easy.
    Voytas DF, Joung JK. Voytas DF, et al. Science. 2009 Dec 11;326(5959):1491-2. doi: 10.1126/science.1183604. Science. 2009. PMID: 20007890 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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