Crowley, T.E., Hoey, T., Liu, J.K., Jan, Y.N., Jan, L.Y., Tjian, R. (1993). A new factor related to TATA-binding protein has highly restricted expression patterns in Drosophila.  Nature 361(6412): 557--561.

FBrf0059122

Letter

The TATA-binding protein TBP is necessary for the transcription of eukaryotic genes. Multi-protein complexes formed by TBP and different TBP-associated factors are involved in the initiation of transcription by polymerases I and II, and probably III as well. During the formation of an active initiation complex, TBP makes specific contacts with other proteins, for example TFIIB and RNA polymerase II (refs 2-4). Here we describe the cloning and characterization of a Drosophila gene product with considerable sequence similarity to TBP and a highly restricted expression pattern in the embryo. This TBP-related factor is a DNA-binding protein but is not likely to be a basal transcription factor. Our results suggest that TBP-related factor is a sequence-specific transcription factor that shares the DNA-binding properties of TBP.