... is achieved by direct readout in the minor groove. However, the level of sequence specificity observed is much less than that of DNA major groove-binding helix–turn–helix proteins. We suggest that the evolution of DNA-binding proteins following the RNA to DNA genome transition represents the major advantage...

... to be almost two orders of magnitude faster than the diffusion limit: in other words, the Lac repressor seems to be able to bind to its target site on a 50 kb DNA faster than it can reach that site by free diffusion through bulk solution. diffusion DNA-binding protein DNA sequence hopping jumping...