Richter A. auteur aut IRD Streubel J. auteur aut IRD Blucher C. auteur aut IRD Szurek Boris auteur aut IRD Reschke M. auteur aut IRD Grau J. auteur aut IRD Boch J. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) are important Xanthomonas virulence factors that bind DNA via a unique tandem 34-amino-acid repeat domain to induce expression of plant genes. So far, TALE repeats are described to bind as a consecutive array to a consecutive DNA sequence, in which each repeat independently recognizes a single DNA base. This modular protein architecture enables the design of any desired DNA-binding specificity for biotechnology applications. Here we report that natural TALE repeats of unusual aminoacid sequence length break the strict one repeat-to-one base pair binding mode and introduce a local flexibility to TALE-DNA binding. This flexibility allows TALEs and TALE nucleases to recognize target sequence variants with single nucleotide deletions. The flexibility also allows TALEs to activate transcription at allelic promoters that otherwise confer resistance to the host plant. specialized 076 5 art. 3447 2014 2041-1723 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061956 10.1038/ncomms4447 2041-1723 [F B010061956] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010061956 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers17-10/010061956.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2014-05-28 2017-10-31 fdi:010061956 fre