Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Primer
  • Published:

What are DNA sequence motifs?

Sequence motifs are becoming increasingly important in the analysis of gene regulation. How do we define sequence motifs, and why should we use sequence logos instead of consensus sequences to represent them? Do they have any relation with binding affinity? How do we search for new instances of a motif in this sea of DNA?

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: ROX1 binding sites and sequence motif.

Bob Crimi

References

  1. Schneider, T.D. & Stephens, R.M. Sequence Logos: a new way to display consensus sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 18, 6097–6100 (1990).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Stormo, G.D. DNA binding sites: representation and discovery. Bioinformatics 16, 16–23 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Workman, C.T. et al. EnoLOGOS: a versatile web tool for energy normalized sequence logos. Nucleic Acids Res. 33 (Web Server Issue), W389–W392 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Matys, V. et al. TRANSFAC® and its module TRANSCompel®: transcriptional gene regulation in eukaryotes. Nucleic Acids Res. 34 suppl. Database issue, D108–D110 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Vlieghe, D. et al. A new generation of JASPAR, the open-access repository for transcription factor binding site profiles. Nucleic Acids Res. 34 suppl. Database issue, D95–D97 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Teixeira, M.C. et al. The YEASTRACT database: a tool for the analysis of transcription regulatory associations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nucleic Acids Res. 34 suppl. Database issue, D446–451 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Zhu, J. & Zhang, M.Q. SCPD: a promoter database of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Bioinformatics 15, 607–611 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Salgado, H. et al. RegulonDB (version 5.0): Escherichia coli K-12 transcriptional regulatory network, operon organization, and growth conditions. Nucleic Acids Res. 34 suppl. Database issue, D394–D397 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Munch, R. et al. PRODORIC: prokaryotic database of gene regulation. Nucleic Acids Res. 31, 266–269 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Djordjevic, M., Sengupta, A.M. & Shraiman, B.I. A biophysical approach to transcription factor binding site discovery. Genome Res. 13, 2381–2390 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

D'haeseleer, P. What are DNA sequence motifs?. Nat Biotechnol 24, 423–425 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0406-423

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0406-423

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing