PLOS Comp Biol style for 2014: Nonconsensus binding
PLOS Computational Biology is delighted to reveal the winner of this year’s t-shirt design competition: Ariel Afek, from Ben-Gurion University! Ariel’s design “Nonconsensus Protein-DNA binding” will appear on t-shirts available from the PLOS booth at the ISMB 2014 conference in Boston. PLOS Computational Biology t-shirts have become a popular staple of the journals’ presence at ISMB over the past six years, so make sure you drop by the PLOS booth to grab one before they’re gone!
The winning design is based on the phenomenon of “Nonconsensus Protein-DNA binding”, where proteins bind to DNA in the absence of a binding site. Normally proteins require specific sequences (called motifs) to be present in an area of DNA before they can bind to it, but in the scenarios modelled by Ariel and his co-authors and depicted in the design, different proteins can bind to DNA in various genomic locations which lack motifs. The initial image appeared as a way for Ariel to help explain the process at a conference and, with feedback from friends, was developed into the final design.
Ariel and his co-authors have modelled this form of binding in the yeast genome, and will be presenting experimental results and bioinformatics analysis on this topic as a poster at ISMB, in the “Functional Genomics” category.
The PLOS booth will be open at ISMB 2014 from 12th July to 15th July. We’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions for the journal, so please come and say hello!
By Arielle Bennett, Publications Assistant, PLOS Computational Biology