Researchers find a completely new DNA binding protein
Despite all the genomes we've sequenced, there is something new to be found
The basic premises underlying gene expression—when and where genes are turned on and off—were worked out in bacteria by François Jacob and Jacques Monod in the middle of the twentieth century. The expression of a gene typically relies on one or more proteins binding to a specific DNA sequence near the gene of interest. These proteins are called transcription factors since they regulate the transcription of genes into RNA, the first step in turning them into proteins.
At this point, many different families of related transcription factors have been defined. And, as more and more genomes have been sequenced, it was easy to get the impression that we had a complete catalog. But now, researchers at UCSF have discovered a new type of never-seen-before DNA binding protein in an organism called Candida albicans.
C. albicans is a fungus. It is a strain of yeast that resides in our guts, usually on very peaceable terms with the bacteria that make up our microbiome. Occasionally, it oversteps its bounds to cause thrush, an infection of the mouth. It can also infect other dark, moist, bodily orifices. (Especially if you spend all summer in a wet bathing suit.)
These yeast can be “white” or “opaque." These two states have the same genomes, but they look different because they express a different set of genes—much like differences between human skin cells and human muscle cells. White cells beget white cells, opaque cells beget opaque cells, and random switching between the two types happens only once in 10,000 generations
http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/researchers-find-a-completely-new-dna-binding-protein/
