Chapter 16: Regulation of Gene Expression

These study guides are intended to direct you toward relevant topics
in the course. It also aids in identifying topics in the text that we ignore and
when you are unsure whether something was covered (or accidentally
excluded) from the lectures.
Big Questions
How Is Gene Expression Regulated in Prokaryotes?
Regulating gene transcription conserves energy
Operons are units of transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes
Operatorrepressor interactions control transcription in the lac and trp operons
Protein synthesis can be controlled by increasing promoter efficiency
RNA polymerases can be directed to particular classes of promoters
How Is Eukaryotic Gene Transcription Regulated?
General transcription factors act at eukaryotic promoters
Specific proteins can recognize and bind to DNA sequences and regulate
transcription
Specific proteinDNA interactions underlie binding
The expression of transcription factors underlies cell differentiation
The expression of sets of genes can be coordinately regulated by transcription
factors
How Do Viruses Regulate Their Gene Expression?
Many bacteriophages undergo a lytic cycle
Some bacteriophages can undergo a lysogenic cycle
Eukaryotic viruses have complex life cycles
HIV gene regulation occurs at the level of transcription elongation
How Do Epigenetic Changes Regulate Gene Expression?
DNA methylation occurs at promoters and silences transcription
Histone protein modifications affect transcription
Epigenetic changes can be induced by the environment
DNA methylation can result in genomic imprinting
Global chromosome changes involve DNA methylation
How Is Eukaryotic Gene Expression Regulated after Transcription?
Different mRNAs can be made from the same gene by alternative splicing
Small RNAs are important regulators of gene expression

 Translation of mRNA can be regulated by proteins

KEY CONCEPTS & LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Goals: Understand prokaryotic and eukaryotic gene expression, including the roles of
operons, promoters, enhancers, and transcription factors
Summarize other genetic regulatory processes including posttranscriptional and
epigenetic mechanisms
KEY CONCEPT

LEARNING OBJECTIVE

1. Prokaryotes regulate gene expression

by a variety of means; energy is
conserved by making only those
proteins needed for their current
environment.

1. Provide and explain an example of an

adaptive gene regulatory response of
bacteria.

2. In prokaryotes, some genes are

constitutively expressed while others
are regulated by inducers or repressors.
3. Operons are clusters of prokaryotic
genes regulated by a single promoter.

2. Explain why some genes are

constitutively expressed while others
are up or down regulated.
3. Describe the structure of an operon and
explain how this mode of regulation
can be useful to bacteria.
4. On a drawing of a hypothetical gene
(combining eukaryotic and prokaryotic
traits), diagram the function of
promoters, operators, silencers, and
enhancers.

4. Promoters, operators, silencers, and

enhancers are DNA sequences that do
not code for proteins, but instead bind
regulatory proteins.
5. Eukaryotic gene expression can be
controlled at the transcriptional,
posttranscriptional, translational, and
posttranslational levels.

5. Describe four different levels of

eukaryotic gene expression and explain
the value of each.

6. The major method of control of

eukaryotic gene expression is selective
transcription, which results from
specific proteins binding to regulatory
regions on DNA.

6. Describe the primary means by which

eukaryotic gene expression is regulated.

7. Eukaryotic promoters have a common

TATA region, but also have recognition
sites that are specific for particular
genes.

7. Explain why both common and genespecific regulatory sequences are found
in eukaryotic DNA.

8. A series of transcription factors must

bind to the promoter before RNA
polymerase can bind. Whether RNA
polymerase will initiate transcription
also depends on the binding of
regulatory proteins, activator proteins
(which are bound by enhancers and
stimulate transcription), and repressor
proteins (which are bound by silencers
and inhibit transcription).

8a.DescribethefamilyofTFII
transcriptionfactorsandthefunction
ofeach.

9. The simultaneous control of widely

separated genes is made possible
through proteins that bind to common
sequences found in the regulatory
regions for the different genes.

9. Describe the spatial distribution of

regulatory regions of eukaryotic genes
and suggest a reason for this
organization.

10. Specific protein-DNA actions are

mediated by structural motifs such as
the helix-turn-helix motif.

10. Diagram the relation between a helixturn-helix motif and the double helix
and give an example of this mode of
gene regulation.

11. Viruses are obligate intracellular

parasites, needing the biochemical
machinery of living cells to reproduce.

11. Contrast the behavior of viruses with

that of living cells.

12. Bacteriophage infect bacteria. In the

lytic cycle, the host cell breaks open,
releasing many new phage particles.
Some phages can undergo a lysogenic
cycle in which their DNA is inserted
into the host chromosome allowing
them to replicate for many generations.

12. Describe the lytic cycle and contrast

that with the lysogenic cycle.

13. Viruses that infect eukaryotes include

DNA viruses, RNA viruses, and
retroviruses; they can exhibit complex
regulatory mechanisms.

13. Compare and contrast DNA viruses,

RNA viruses, and retroviruses.

14. HIV, a retrovirus, uses reverse

transcriptase to integrate into a host
cells DNA.

14. Explain what an enveloped virus is

and describe the steps of an HIV
viral infection.

15. DNA methylation results in heritable

changes in patterns of gene expression
without altering the DNA sequence
proper.

15. Describe the process of DNA

methylation.

8b. Explain how activators and repressor

contribute to control of transcription.

16. Histone acetylation and deacetylation

(a type of chromatin remodeling)
control the access of transcriptional
machinery to chromosomal regions.

16. Explain how the acetylation of

histone proteins affects their
interactions with DNA and also
enables further chromatin
remodeling.

17. Genomic imprinting and

heterochromatin refer to additional
kinds of modified chromatin that
influence the expression of genes; this
is particularly prevalent on sex
chromosomes.

17a. Contrast heterochromatin and

euchromatin.

18. Alternative mRNA splicing provides a

posttranscriptional means of
determining which proteins or
polypeptides will be synthesized.
19. MicroRNAs and siRNAs are short,
noncoding RNA sequences that bind
target mRNA molecules resulting in
their inhibition or degradation.
20. Gene expression is highly regulated by
other translational controls and by the
degradation of proteins via proteasome
complexes.

18. Explain how alternative splicing can

produce a variety of different
proteins or polypeptides from a
single gene.
19. Compare and contrast miRNAs with
siRNAs in terms of both their origins
and their mechanisms of action.

KEY TERMS
activator
bacteriophage
capsid
catabolite repression
consensus sequence
constitutive protein
demethylase
DNA methyltransferase
enhancer
enveloped virus
epigenetics
euchromatin
general transcription factor
genomic imprinting
heterochromatin
inducer
inducible protein

17b. Describe the process of genomic

imprinting and give an example of
its phenotypic consequences.

20. Describe the operation of a

proteasome complex and the role
played in this process by ubiquitin.

interference RNA
lysogeny
lytic
methylation
microRNA (miRNA)
negative regulation
operator
operon
positive regulation
prophage
proteasome
provirus
regulatory sequence
repressor
retrovirus
reverse transcriptase
sigma factor
silencer
small interfering RNA (siRNA)
structural motifs
TATA box
transcription factor
ubiquitin
virion
virus