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Structure of the Operon
• Lac operon consists of 3 structural genes, a
promoter, an operator, a regulator and a
terminator. They are lacZ, lacY, and lacA.
• lacZ encodes β-galactosidase (LacZ): An
intracellular enzyme that cleaves the
disaccharide lactose into glucose and galactose.
• lacY encodes β-galactoside permease (LacY)- a
membrane-bound transport protein that pumps
lactose into the cell.
• lacA encodes β-galactoside transacetylase
(LacA)- an enzyme that transfers an acetyl
group from acetyl-CoA to β-galactosides.
• Only lacZ and lacY appear to be necessary for
lactose catabolism.
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• Specific control of the lac genes depends on the
availability of the substrate lactose to the
bacterium.
• The proteins are not produced by the bacterium
when lactose is unavailable as a carbon source.
• The lac genes are organized into an operon;
they are oriented in the same direction
immediately adjacent on the chromosome and
are co-transcribed into a single polycistronic
mRNA molecule.
• Transcription of all genes starts with the binding
of the enzyme RNA polymerase (RNAP).
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Lac Operon Organization
Lac Y+
Lac Z+ Lac A+
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Lac Operator
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Lac Regulatory
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In Absence of Lactose
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In Presence of Lactose
Small amount of it are converted into
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Positive Control of Lac Operon
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Catabolite Repression
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Trp Operon
• Trp Operon is an operon in bacteria which
promotes the production of tryptophan
when tryptophan isn't present in the
environment.
• First repressible operon to be discovered.
• If the amino acid is present, then the
operon is repressed & biosynthetic
enzymes are not produced.
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Trp Operon
Consists of Regulatory & Structural Genes
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Between the Promoter/Operator & the Structural gene
is the Leader Region, trpL
Transcribed into an mRNA called – Leader mRNA
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Leader mRNA contains the Attenuator consisting of 4 regions
(1,2,3 &4) that fold & forms 3 different loop secondary structure.
1 & 2 pairing
results in
transcription
pause signal
When the cell is starved for Trp, the amount of Trp-tRNA drops
dramatically. In the leader mRNA there are 2 Trp codons in tandem. When
the ribosome reaches these codons, it stalls because the amino acid is
short supply & the leader peptide cannot be completed.
Since the ribosome covers region1 of the attenuator, region2 will pair with
region3. This pairing is an antitermination signal, thereby allowing RNAP to
proceed
05/18/09 & translation follows to synthesize enzymes necessary to produce trp 22
When the cell is not starved for
tryptophan, there is enough
Trp-tRNA for translation
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