Protein Domain : Regulatory protein cro superfamily IPR038202

Type	Homologous_superfamily
Description	Bacteriophage lambda encodes two repressors: the Cro repressor that acts to turn off early gene transcription during the lytic cycle, and the lambda or cI repressor that is required to maintain lysogenic growth. Together the Cro and cI repressors form a helix-turn-helix (HTH) superfamily. The lambda Cro repressor binds to DNA as a highly flexible dimer. The crystal structure of the lambda Cro repressor [ ] reveals a HTH DNA-binding protein with an alpha/beta fold that differs from other Cro family members, possibly by an evolutionary fold change []. Most Cro proteins, such as Enterobacteria phage P22 Cro and Bacteriophage 434 Cro, have an all-alpha structure that is thought to be ancestral to lambda Cro, where the fourth and fifth helices are replaced by a β-sheet, possibly as a result of secondary structure switching rather than by nonhomologous replacement []. This entry represents the lambda-type Cro repressor with an alpha/beta topology.
Short Name	Cro_sf