The DNA-binding domain of BenM reveals the structural basis for the recognition of a T-N₁₁-A sequence motif by LysR-type transcriptional regulators

The first structures of DNA–protein complexes that include the DNA-binding domain from a LysR-type transcriptional regulator (LTTR) are described here and are used to explain the high degree of conservation in a DNA-sequence motif recognized by LTTRs (T-N₁₁-A). Sequence-specific recognition depends primarily on direct protein–nucleotide base contacts.