TATA box

 The TATA box or the TATAAT is a consensus sequence located at the -10 position from the transcription start site of a promoter region in prokaryotes, and at approximately -25 to -35 in eukaryotes. This consensus sequence is important in transcription as TATA-box binding protein binds to the promoter sequence and recruits RNA Polymerase II to begin the synthesis of mRNA using the DNA template strand^[1].

References

1. ↑ Hartl D and Ruvolo M. 2012. Genetics Analysis Of Genes And Genomes. 8th edition. Chapter 10, Pages 352-353.

Nature online - Available at: http://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/promoter-259 (Last accessed October 2016)