The Pribnow box (also known as the Pribnow-Schaller box) is a sequence of ''TATAAT'' of six
nucleotide
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate. They serve as monomeric units of the nucleic acid polymers – deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), both of which are essential biomolecul ...
s (
thymine
Thymine () (symbol T or Thy) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine n ...
,
adenine,
thymine
Thymine () (symbol T or Thy) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine n ...
, etc.) that is an essential part of a
promoter site on
DNA for
transcription to occur in
bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...
.
[
][
] It is an idealized or
consensus sequence—that is, it shows the most frequently occurring base at each position in many promoters analyzed; individual promoters often vary from the consensus at one or more positions. It is also commonly called the -10 sequence, because it is centered roughly ten base pairs upstream from the site of initiation of transcription.
The Pribnow box has a function similar to the
TATA box that occurs in promoters in
eukaryote
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bact ...
s and
archaea: it is recognized and bound by a subunit of
RNA polymerase
In molecular biology, RNA polymerase (abbreviated RNAP or RNApol), or more specifically DNA-directed/dependent RNA polymerase (DdRP), is an enzyme that synthesizes RNA from a DNA template.
Using the enzyme helicase, RNAP locally opens the ...
during initiation of transcription.
This region of the DNA is also the first place where base pairs separate during prokaryotic transcription to allow access to the template strand. The AT-richness is important to allow this separation, since
adenine and
thymine
Thymine () (symbol T or Thy) is one of the four nucleobases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine n ...
are easier to break apart (not only due to fewer hydrogen bonds, but also due to weaker
base stacking
Nucleic acid tertiary structure is the three-dimensional shape of a nucleic acid polymer. RNA and DNA molecules are capable of diverse functions ranging from molecular recognition to catalysis. Such functions require a precise three-dimensiona ...
effects).
[
]
It is named after
David Pribnow and
Heinz Schaller
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...
.
Probability of occurrence of each nucleotide in ''E. coli''
In fiction
The term "Pribnow box" is used in episode 13 of ''
Neon Genesis Evangelion
, also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko Production, Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo fr ...
'', in reference to the chamber holding simulation
Evangelions for testing purposes.
See also
*
TATA box
References
Regulatory sequences
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