Editing TATA box (section)

=== Evolutionary history ===
Most research on the TATA box has been conducted on yeast, human, and ''Drosophila'' genomes, however, similar elements have been found in [[archaea]] and ancient [[eukaryote]]s.<ref name=":11" /> In archaea species, the promoter contains an 8 bp AT-rich sequence located ~24 bp upstream of the transcription start site. This sequence was originally called Box A, which is now known to be the sequence that interacts with the homologue of the archaeal [[TATA-binding protein]] (TBP). Also, even though some studies have uncovered several similarities, there are others that have detected notable differences between archaeal and eukaryotic TBP. The archaea protein exhibits a greater symmetry in its primary sequence and in the distribution of [[Electrostatics|electrostatic]] charge, which is important because the higher symmetry lowers the protein's ability to bind the TATA box in a polar manner.<ref name=":11" />

Even though the TATA box is present in many eukaryotic promoters, it is not contained in the majority of promoters. One study found less than 30% of 1031 potential promoter regions contain a putative TATA box motif in humans.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Suzuki Y, Tsunoda T, Sese J, Taira H, Mizushima-Sugano J, Hata H, Ota T, Isogai T, Tanaka T, Nakamura Y, Suyama A, Sakaki Y, Morishita S, Okubo K, Sugano S | title = Identification and characterization of the potential promoter regions of 1031 kinds of human genes | journal = Genome Research | volume = 11 | issue = 5 | pages = 677–84 | date = May 2001 | pmid = 11337467 | pmc = 311086 | doi =  10.1101/gr.gr-1640r}}</ref> In ''Drosophila,'' less than 40% of 205 core promoters contain a TATA box.<ref name=":14" /> When there is an absence of the TATA box and TBP is not present, the [[downstream promoter element]] (DPE) in cooperation with the [[initiator element]] (Inr) bind to the transcription factor II D ([[TFIID]]), initiating transcription in TATA-less promoters. The DPE has been identified in three ''Drosophila'' TATA-less promoters and in the TATA-less human [[IRF1|IRF-1]] promoter.<ref name=":12">{{cite book|title=Cellular and Biochemical Science|last=Tripathi|first=G.|publisher=I.K. International Publishing House Pvt. Ltd|year=2010|isbn=9788188237852|location=New Delhi|pages=373–374}}</ref>