▁structure ▁and ▁repeat ▁sequences ▁it ▁was ▁pres umed ▁that ▁this ▁gene ▁and ▁hom olog s ▁in ▁other ▁R al st onia ▁stra ins ▁would ▁encode ▁prote ins ▁with ▁the ▁same ▁mole cular ▁properties ▁as ▁T A LE s , ▁including ▁sequence - specific ▁DNA ▁binding . ▁In ▁ 2 0 1 3 ▁this ▁was ▁confirmed ▁by ▁two ▁studies . ▁These ▁gen es ▁and ▁the ▁prote ins ▁they ▁encode ▁are ▁referred ▁to ▁as ▁R ip T AL s ▁( R al st onia ▁inject ed ▁protein ▁T A LE - like ) ▁in ▁line ▁with ▁the ▁standard ▁nom en cl ature ▁of ▁R al st onia ▁effect ors . ▁Wh ilst ▁the ▁DNA ▁binding ▁code ▁of ▁the ▁core ▁repe ats ▁is ▁conser ved ▁with ▁T A LE s , ▁R ip T AL s ▁do ▁not ▁share ▁the ▁T - zero ▁preference , ▁instead ▁they ▁have ▁a ▁strict ▁G - zero ▁requirement . ▁In ▁addition ▁repe ats ▁within ▁a ▁single ▁R ip T AL ▁repeat ▁array ▁have ▁multiple ▁sequence ▁differences ▁beyond ▁the ▁R VD ▁positions , ▁unlike ▁the ▁near - ident ical ▁repe ats ▁of ▁T A LE s . ▁ ▁R ip T AL s ▁have ▁been ▁found ▁in ▁all ▁four ▁ph yl ot ypes ▁of ▁R . ▁sol an ace ar um , ▁making ▁it ▁an ▁ancest ral ▁feature ▁of ▁this ▁cla de . ▁Despite ▁differences ▁in ▁the ▁fl ank ing ▁domains , ▁the ▁sequences ▁their ▁R VD s ▁target ▁are ▁highly ▁similar . ▁ ▁Bi ological ▁role ▁ ▁Several ▁lines ▁of