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We describe a family of proteins which regulate transcription of inducible genes in bacteria (GalR-LacI family). An alignment of the proteins in the GalR-LacI family is presented in which these proteins show a very high degree of similarity (60%) throughout the entire sequences. The homology is greatest among the amino-terminal DNA binding domains. Since a portion of the operator sequences occupied by these proteins is also conserved, a similar DNA structure may be required for specific recognition of DNA by members of the GalR-LacI family. Highly conserved motifs involved in effector binding and oligomerization are also identified. This compilation suggests a widespread conservation of these regulators among bacteria, and have strong implications for further study of peptide motifs in domain function, as well as pathways of protein evolution.
Weickert et al. (Sat,) studied this question.