Unit 6 · 6.5 — Regulation of Gene Expression [cite: 9, 10, 28]

Everything to learn here

• Concept: Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes finely tune gene expression dynamically to respond to environmental cues, conserve vital energy, and orchestrate development [cite: 10, 13].
• Concept: In prokaryotes, functionally related genes are often clustered into operons transcribed efficiently as a single unit (e.g., the lac operon or trp operon) [cite: 13, 14].
• Vocabulary: Transcription Factors — specialized regulatory proteins that bind specifically to distinct DNA sequences to actively promote or inhibit RNA polymerase binding [cite: 13].
• Vocabulary: Epigenetics — reversible chemical modifications to DNA or histones (e.g., DNA methylation, histone acetylation) that massively alter gene expression without changing the underlying DNA sequence [cite: 14].
• Concept: Gene expression is controlled by regulatory proteins binding to DNA and reversible epigenetic modifications to DNA or histones.
• Concept: Groups of genes are coordinated via operons in prokaryotes and shared transcription factors in eukaryotic cells.

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