Why is it difficult to accurately identify transcription factor binding sites by scanning the genome sequence? Please select all that apply.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Although transcription factors (TF) have preferred binding sequences, the sequences vary and mismatches can be permitted, making it difficult to predict which of the sequences are real binding sites. In addition, TF binding sites are usually short, so this means that lots of false positives are usually identified. It is difficult to use the distance between the transcription start site and the TF binding site to predict the TF binding sequence as this distance also varies. Finally, TF bind to DNA, not RNA.

Why Is It Difficult to Accurately Identify Transcription Factor Binding