Translational Control

Question 1

How is translation regulated in prokaryotes?

Answer 1

Recruiting the small ribosomal subunit to increase translation or blocking it from binding

Question 2

What is the default transcription level of a lot of genes in prokaryotes (on or off)?

Answer 2

On

Question 3

What is the most common way to regulate translation in prokaryotes?

Answer 3

Using repressors to block translation

Question 4

Why is translation often blocked instead of stopping transcription in prokaryotes?

Answer 4

Translational control is much faster than transcriptional control

Question 5

What is the fastest way to stop production of a protein?

Answer 5

Block translation

Question 6

Why can it be advantageous to have a lot of mRNA in a prokaryotic cell with translation being blocked?

Answer 6

When environmental conditions change, removing the repressor to initiate translation allows for rapid production of proteins

Question 7

How can eukaryotic translation be regulated in a way that prokaryotic transcription can’t be?

Answer 7

Eukaryotes require the initiation factors for translation to begin. They can regulate the binding of the initiation factors, and stopping those from binding will stop translation

Question 8

How do translation levels change in T cells when infected?

Answer 8

Translation of every gene ramps up with an infection. The cell will ramp up production of translation machinery and initiation factors to be able to do more translation

Question 9

Which 4 things could potentially be blocked to stop translation in eukaryotes?

Answer 9

1. Cap binding proteins
2. PolyA binding proteins
3. mRNA circularization
4. Blocking the cap and polyA tail proteins from binding to each other