BIL 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Escherichia Coli, Gene Expression, Operon

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIL 250
• Professor: karenalvarezdelfin

Document Summary

Prokaryotes regulate gene expression in response to environmental. Gene regulation has been studied extensively in e. coli. Highly efficient genetic mechanisms have evolved to turn transcription of specific genes on and off depending on a cells metabolic need for specific gene products. Gene expression regulation in prokaryotic occurs mostly at the level of regulation of transcription. These responses can be due to changes in the environment as well as non-environmentally regulated cellular activity and cell division. Genetic regulatory proteins bind to the dna and control the rate of transcription. In attenuation, transcription terminates soon after it has begun due to the formation of a transcriptional terminator. Bacteria adapt to their environment by producing certain enzymes (inducible enzymes) only when specific substrates (inducers) are present. Enzymes continuously produced regardless of the chemical makeup of the environment are called constitutive enzymes. An abundance of an end product in the environment represses gene expression.