Regulation of Gene Expression

• Chromosomal Map begins

at OriC; units of minutes.
– Only structural genes for
enzymes are shown here.
– Their control regions (promoter
and operator) determine
transcription.
– The complete organizational unit
is an operon.
• Transcriptional regulation:
– Negative Control by Repressors
• Repression
• Induction
– Positive Control by Activators
– Attenuation (involves translation)
 Transcriptional Regulation by
Repression
• Regulatory protein
(repressor) is encoded on
a gene outside and away
from the operon it
regulates.

• Active repressor binds

operator region; RNA
Polymerase blocked =
negative control.

• Repressor becomes
active by a corepressor.

• Corepressor is often an
endproduct of pathway
enzymes encoded on the
operon.
 Transcriptional Regulation by
Induction
• Active repressor binds
operator region; RNA
Polymerase blocked =
negative control.
• Gene transcribed when
inducer molecule is
present; binds and
inactivates repressor
(release from operator).
• Inducers are typically
substrate for a pathway
enzyme encoded on the
operon (e.g. allolactose for
the lac operon)
 Lactose Catabolism (lac) Operon

Doesn’t work if glucose

is available! Why?
 Transcriptional Regulation by
Catabolic Activator Protein (CAP)
• CAP = cyclic AMP
receptor protein (CRP).
• Active CAP binds
promotor and allows
transcription to proceed
= positive control.
• Activation of CAP
requires build-up of
cAMP to bind to CAP.
• cAMP builds-up in cells
not producing enough
ATP due to lack of
glucose availability.
• The lac operon requires
both lactose and cAMP.
 • PEP-PTS at high glucose uptake
lac Operon in lowers adenyl cyclase activity;
low cAMP; CAP inactive.
Action • Exhaustion of glucose increases
(diauxic growth) cAMP, activating CAP; repressor
is inactivated; lac operon
transcribed!

Separate cultures Together

 Tryptophan (Trp) Operon
(Trp synthesis (anabolic); regulated by repression and attenuation.)
 Transcriptional Regulation by
Attenuation

• In addition to a promotor and

operator, the operon has a leader
sequence with two pairs of self-
complementing sequence sections
(#1&2 and #3&4). The first pair is
in what is called the leader peptide
gene.

• The second pair (#3&4) is part of a

Rho-independent terminator region
upstream of any structural genes;
called an attenuator. Trp high.

• Prevention of the first pair

complementing will result in a
hybrid complement of first and
second pair (sections #2 and #3).
Trp low.
 Transcriptional 1) No Translation; No
genes transcribed!

Regulation by
Attenuation
• Attenuation of transcription
results when the attenuator 2) Trp & trp-tRNA available
hairpin can form.

• It forms when there is no

translation of leader sequence
mRNA & when there is ample
trp-tRNA.

• Absence of trp-tRNA causes 3) Trp & trp-tRNA absent

ribosome to stall, blocking
section #1; hybrid forms.

• No attenuation hairpin; RNA

polymerase proceeds to
transcribe genes.