In vitro binding of the two‐finger repressor CreA to several consensus and non‐consensus sites at the ipnA upstream region is context dependent

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Abstract
The two zinc‐fingers of the Aspergillus nidulans repressor CreA recognize the consensus hexanucleotide 5'‐SYGGRG‐3'. We have determined all the CreA binding sites in a ∼2 kb region upstream the ipnA gene. Our analysis shows that (i) CreA binds to certain consensus sites in a context‐dependent manner; (ii) five non‐consensus 6‐bp sequences are also recognized by CreA; this non‐canonical binding correlates with the presence of a second, neighbouring CreA binding site, suggesting that recognition of two linked sites stabilizes CreA binding. Our results suggest that the binding possibilities of CreA might be more complex than originally envisaged.