The basic motif-leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factor NRL controls the expression of rhodopsin and other phototransduction genes and is a key mediator of photoreceptor differentiation. To delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying transcriptional initiation of rod-specific genes, we characterized different regions of the NRL protein using yeast-based autoactivation assays. We identified 35 amino acid residues in the proline- and serine-rich N-terminal region (called minimal transactivation domain, MTD), which, when combined with LexA or Gal4 DNA binding domains, exhibited activation of target promoters. Because this domain is conserved in all proteins of the large Maf family, we hypothesized that NRL-MTD played an important role in assembling the transcription initiation complex. Our studies showed that the NRL protein, including the MTD, interacted with full-length or the C-terminal domain of TATA-binding protein (TBP) in vitro. NRL and TBP could be co-immunoprecipitated from bovine retinal nuclear extract. TBP was also part of c-Maf and MafA (two other large Maf proteins)-containing complex(es) in vivo. Our data suggest that the function of NRL-MTD is to activate transcription by recruiting or stabilizing TBP (and consequently other components of the general transcription complex) at the promoter of target genes, and a similar function may be attributed to other bZIP proteins of the large Maf family.