Characterization of a nitrate-inducible transcriptional repressor NIGT1 provides new insights into DNA recognition by the GARP family proteins

The GARP domain is a single Mybrelated DNA-binding domain found in plant transcription factors. Proteins containing the GARP domain (GARP family proteins) are suggested to be involved in the regulation of various physiological processes through their interactions with ostensibly different DNA sequences. Our recent study on a nitrate-inducible gene encoding a GARP family protein, referred to as NIGT1 (Nitrate-Inducible, GARP-type Transcriptional Repressor 1), not only suggests a previously unidentified role for the GARP family proteins in higher plants but also provides a hypothesis for why NIGT1 can show dual specificity on DNA binding and why respective GARP family proteins can recognize very different DNA sequences.