Redundancy of Transcription Factor Function

Transcription factor (TF) redundancy results in the genetic phenomenon of phenotypic nonspecificity, which is the substitution of TFa by another TFb. Phenotypic nonspecificity is observed at a high frequency of between 1 in 10-20 TFs rescuing a TF phenotype. In addition, the rescue is generally not dependent on the TFs recognizing a similar DNA-binding sequence. The model proposed to explain these observations is an adaptation of the formation of loose TF assemblies called wolfpacks. The model proposes that a nucleus has between 5-10 distinct wolfpacks at any specific time that each contain between 10-30 different TFs. In the first sections of this paper, I will summarize my general assumptions made about eukaryotic transcription prior to 2010 and the observations that do not support these assumptions which include phenotypic nonspecificity. In the later sections of this paper, I outline the wolfpack model used to explain TF redundancy and propose experiments to extend the model both mechanistically and evolutionarily.