Editing Transcription factor (section)

== Role in evolution ==
{{Further|Evolutionary developmental biology}}

Gene duplications have played a crucial role in the [[evolution]] of species. This applies particularly to transcription factors. Once they occur as duplicates, accumulated mutations encoding for one copy can take place without negatively affecting the regulation of downstream targets. However, changes of the DNA binding specificities of the single-copy [[Leafy]] transcription factor, which occurs in most land plants, have recently been elucidated. In that respect, a single-copy transcription factor can undergo a change of specificity through a promiscuous intermediate without losing function. Similar mechanisms have been proposed in the context of all alternative [[phylogenetic]] hypotheses, and the role of transcription factors in the evolution of all species.<ref name="pmid24436181">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Sayou C, Monniaux M, Nanao MH, Moyroud E, Brockington SF, Thévenon E, Chahtane H, Warthmann N, Melkonian M, Zhang Y, Wong GK, Weigel D, Parcy F, Dumas R |date=February 2014 |title=A promiscuous intermediate underlies the evolution of LEAFY DNA binding specificity |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3437650 |journal=Science |volume=343 |issue=6171 |pages=645–8 |bibcode=2014Sci...343..645S |doi=10.1126/science.1248229 |pmid=24436181 |s2cid=207778924 |hdl-access=free |hdl=1885/64773}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="MBE_1767">{{Cite journal |vauthors=Jin J, He K, Tang X, Li Z, Lv L, Zhao Y, Luo J, Gao G |date=July 2015 |title=An Arabidopsis Transcriptional Regulatory Map Reveals Distinct Functional and Evolutionary Features of Novel Transcription Factors |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |volume=32 |issue=7 |pages=1767–73 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msv058 |pmc=4476157 |pmid=25750178}}</ref>