Gene Expression Flashcards
What are constitutive genes?
genes that are expressed all the time
What are inducible genes?
genes that are turned on at specific times or after certain cues
Most of the regulation occurs at what step?
initiation of transcription (happens at a lot of steps)
How is the heat shock gene in E. coli regulated?
have variations in core promoter sequence, they recruit a different sigma
What does the normal E. coli promoter vs the heat shock promoter bind?
normal binds sigma70, heat shock binds sigma32
How does negative regulation happen?
through a repressor, binds and restricts access of promoter to rna polymerase
How does positive regulation happen?
through an activator, helps recruit rna polymerase
What enzyme is required for the breakdown of lactose?
beta-galactosidase
What do operons typically consist of?
gene of interest, promoter (RNA pol binding site), enhancers, operators
What do enhancers do?
binding site for transcriptional activators
What do operators do?
binding site for transcriptional repressors
What is +1?
regulatory sites are in close proxmitity to start site of transcription are called this
What does the lac repressor do in the absence of lactose?
forms a homotetramer and binds to either the O3 and O1 sites or the O2 and O1 sites (these are operators), stops rna polymerase from binding
What is the inducer of the lac operon?
allolactose, IPTG is the synthetic inducer
How is allolactose made? How does it do its job?
lactose is converted into allolactose by LacZ at low levels, binds Lac repressor (Lacl) to make it let go of operator
How is the lac operon regulated through positive regulation?
the cAMP receptor protein binds near the promoter when it is bound to cAMP, recruits rna polymerase
When and what makes cAMP?
made by adenylate cyclase when glucose levels are low
What are riboswitches?
metabolite sensing in the 5-untranslated regions on mRNAs, change shape which influences gene expression
Genes containing riboswitches typically code for what?
proteins that are involved in the syntehsis of molecules that are expensive to produce, TPP, FMN etc
What are riboswitches composed of?
aptamer (binds metabolite) and expression platform (expression regulator)