Trp holorepressor-trp operator interaction studied by protein distribution analysis.

Trp repressor protein of Escherichia coli (Mr 24,700) undergoes a conformational change upon interaction with L-tryptophan that enables the resulting binary complex to bind with high specificity to several operator targets in double-stranded DNA. By protein distribution analysis it was shown that a significant fraction of Trp repressor is inert in operator binding. The equilibrium dissociation constant for Trp holorepressor-Trp operator interaction is 6.7 nM at 20 degrees in 0.05M NaCl, pH 7.4. The Trp holorepressor-trp operator complex consists of one molecule of each of the participating species, even at high molar ratios of protein to DNA.