Gene regulation Flashcards
Why are regulatory genes expressed?
to control the expression of structural genes
Where does the repressor molecule come from?
The regulatory gene
What is a structural gene?
a gene that codes for proteins that play a role in the structure or function of a cell or organism
What is an operon?
a cluster of linked genes that all share a common promoter and operator and are transcribed at the same time
What is an operator region?
a sequence of DNA to which RNA polymerase binds
What is an operator?
How does a repressor molecule prevent transcription?
How does a repressor molecule regulate genes?
What is one of the main reasons for gene regulation?
to conserve energy
cells don’t need to make all the proteins in their genome. (e.g. brain cells don’t need proteins for the liver) aka differentiation
Where is the trp operon found?
prokaryotes (only)
How can the expression of genes be altered?
epigenetic regulation (modification of histones [methylation of histones])
changes to density of packaging of DNA
methylation of DNA
proteins binding to promoter region of a gene
changes to the shape of 5’ untranslated region in the mRNA
