Alberts • Johnson • Lewis • Raff • Roberts • Walter

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Fifth Edition

Chapter 7
Control of Gene Expression

Copyright © Garland Science 2008

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 Table 11.2

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 – So a carrot plant can be grown from a single carrot
cell

Root of
carrot plant
Plantlet
Cell division
in culture

Single cell

Root cells cultured in nutrient medium Adult plant

Figure 11.3A

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 Control of Gene Expression
• Controlling gene expression is often
accomplished by controlling transcription
initiation.

• Regulatory proteins bind to DNA to either

block or stimulate transcription, depending
on how they interact with RNA
polymerase.

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 Control of Gene Expression
• Prokaryotic organisms regulate gene
expression in response to their
environment.

• Eukaryotic cells regulate gene expression

to maintain homeostasis in the organism.

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 Regulatory Proteins
• Gene expression is often controlled by
regulatory proteins binding to specific
DNA sequences.
– regulatory proteins gain access to the
bases of DNA at the major groove
– regulatory proteins possess DNA-
binding motifs

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Figure 7-6 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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Table 7-1 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• Control of transcription initiation can be:
– positive control – increases
transcription when activators bind DNA
– negative control – reduces
transcription when repressors bind to
DNA regulatory regions called
operators

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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• Prokaryotic cells often respond to their
environment by changes in gene
expression.
• Genes involved in the same metabolic
pathway are organized in operons.
• Some operons are induced when the
metabolic pathway is needed.
• Some operons are repressed when the
metabolic pathway is no longer needed.
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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• The trp operon encodes genes for the
biosynthesis of tryptophan.
• The operon is not expressed when the cell
contains sufficient amounts of tryptophan.
• The operon is expressed when levels of
tryptophan are low.

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 OPERON-Prokaryotes

Figure 7-34 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• The trp operon is negatively regulated by
the trp repressor protein
– trp repressor binds to the operator to
block transcription
– binding of repressor to the operator
requires a corepressor which is
tryptophan
– low levels of tryptophan prevent the
repressor from binding to the operator
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Figure 7-35 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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Figure 7-37 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• The lac operon contains genes for the
use of lactose as an energy source.

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 Prokaryotic Regulation
• The lac operon contains genes for the
use of lactose as an energy source.
• Regulatory regions of the operon include
the CAP binding site, promoter, and the
operator.
• The coding region contains genes for 3
enzymes:
– β-galactosidase, permease, and
transacetylase
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Figure 7-39 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Eukaryotic Regulation
• Controlling the expression of eukaryotic
genes requires transcription factors.
– general transcription factors are
required for transcription initiation
• required for proper binding of RNA
polymerase to the DNA
– specific transcription factors increase
transcription in certain cells or in
response to signals
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 30

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 EUKARYOTIC

Figure 7-44 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Eukaryotic Transcription
• General transcription factors bind to the
promoter region of the gene.
• RNA polymerase II then binds to the
promoter to begin transcription at the start
site (+1).
• Enhancers are DNA sequences to which
specific transcription factors (activators)
bind to increase the rate of transcription.

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 Eukaryotic Transcription
• Coactivators and mediators are also
required for the function of transcription
factors.
– coactivators and mediators bind to
transcription factors and bind to other
parts of the transcription apparatus

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 Posttranscriptional Regulation

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 Posttranscriptional Regulation
• Control of gene expression usually involves
the control of transcription initiation.
• But gene expression can be controlled after
transcription, with mechanisms such as:
– RNA interference
– alternative splicing
– RNA editing
– mRNA degradation
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 Posttranscriptional Regulation
• Introns are spliced out of pre-mRNAs to
produce the mature mRNA that is
translated.
• Alternative splicing recognizes different
splice sites in different tissue types.

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 Posttranscriptional Regulation
• Introns are spliced out of pre-mRNAs to
produce the mature mRNA that is
translated.
• Alternative splicing recognizes different
splice sites in different tissue types.
• The mature mRNAs in each tissue possess
different exons, resulting in different
polypeptide products from the same gene.

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 46

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 Posttranscriptional Regulation
• Mature mRNA molecules have various
half-lives depending on the gene and the
location (tissue) of expression.
• The amount of polypeptide produced from
a particular gene can be influenced by the
half-life of the mRNA molecules.

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 Translational and Post-
translational Regulation

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Translational Regulation
 Post- Translational Regulation

Figure 7-59 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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 Protein Degradation

51

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 Protein Degradation
• Proteins are produced and degraded
continually in the cell.
• Proteins to be degraded are tagged with
ubiquitin.
• Degradation of proteins marked with
ubiquitin occurs at the proteasome.

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 52

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 53

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Figure 7-5 Molecular Biology of the Cell (© Garland Science 2008)

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