Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A typical operon. In genetics, an operon is a functioning unit of DNA containing a cluster of genes under the control of a single promoter. [1] The genes are transcribed together into an mRNA strand and either translated together in the cytoplasm, or undergo splicing to create monocistronic mRNAs that are translated separately, i.e. several strands of mRNA that each encode a single gene product.
The trp operon is a group of genes that are transcribed together, encoding the enzymes that produce the amino acid tryptophan in bacteria. The trp operon was first characterized in Escherichia coli , and it has since been discovered in many other bacteria. [ 1 ]
Regulation of gene expression by a hormone receptor Diagram showing at which stages in the DNA-mRNA-protein pathway expression can be controlled. Regulation of gene expression, or gene regulation, [1] includes a wide range of mechanisms that are used by cells to increase or decrease the production of specific gene products (protein or RNA).
Gene structure is the organisation of specialised sequence elements within a gene.Genes contain most of the information necessary for living cells to survive and reproduce. [1] [2] In most organisms, genes are made of DNA, where the particular DNA sequence determines the function of the gene.
A structural gene is a gene that codes for any RNA or protein product other than a regulatory factor (i.e. regulatory protein).A term derived from the lac operon, structural genes are typically viewed as those containing sequences of DNA corresponding to the amino acids of a protein that will be produced, as long as said protein does not function to regulate gene expression.
Bacterial transcription is the process in which a segment of bacterial DNA is copied into a newly synthesized strand of messenger RNA (mRNA) with use of the enzyme RNA polymerase. The process occurs in three main steps: initiation, elongation, and termination; and the result is a strand of mRNA that is complementary to a single strand of DNA.
The lactose operon (lac operon) is an operon required for the transport and metabolism of lactose in E. coli and many other enteric bacteria.Although glucose is the preferred carbon source for most enteric bacteria, the lac operon allows for the effective digestion of lactose when glucose is not available through the activity of β-galactosidase. [1]
Regulons involving virulence factors in pathogenic bacteria are of particular research interest; an often-studied example is the phosphate regulon in E. coli, which couples phosphate homeostasis to pathogenicity through a two-component system. [4] Regulons can sometimes be pathogenicity islands. [5]