Promoter of transcription

Transcription must begin at a specific position
of DNA, just upstream (at the 5! end) of a gene.
This transcription initiation site is called a promoter.
A promoter is a short nucleotide
sequence of DNA that regulates the onset of
transcription by binding to RNA polymerase.
Two distinct promoter regions can be recognized
above the transcription starting point.
These sequences are evolutionarily highly conserved
(consensus sequences). In prokaryotes, a
promoter with a consensus sequence consisting
of six base pairs, TATAAT (also called a Pribnow
box after its discoverer) is located 10 base pairs
above the starting point; another region of conserved
sequences, TTGACA, is located 35 base
pairs above the gene (at the 5! end). These
sequences are referred to as the "10 box and the
"35 box respectively (the term “box” is derived
from the sequence identity or similarity in all
genes). In eukaryotes, the location and the
sequences of the promoters differ slightly from
those of the prokaryotes