Content
⇒ Transcription and Gene Regulation
⇒ Prokaryotic Genes
⇒ Transcription Initiation and Termination
⇒ The Lac Operon
⇒ Eukaryotic Gene Regulation
⇒ RNA Processing
The central dogma of molecular genetics proposes that the information
in DNA is used to make RNA molecules through a process known as
transcription and that the information in some RNAis used to make proteins
by a process called translation. Transcription is carried out by RNA
polymerases, whereas translation is catalyzed by enzymes associated
with ribosomes. The RNAmolecules and proteins synthesized during the
development and/or maintenance of an organism are responsible for an
organism’s characteristics.
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The information for synthesizing a particular RNAis located in only
one of the two DNA strands. The strand that contains the information for
making an RNA molecule and that is “read” by an RNA polymerase is
called the template strand or the sense strand. The strand that is complementary
to the template is sometimes called the nonsense strand since
it provides no information for the making of RNAor protein. Not all templates
for coding RNAs occur on the same strand of DNA , however. Messenger
RNAthat specifies the synthesis of a protein is called sense RNA,
whereas RNA complementary to sense RNA is called antisense RNA.
Most genes, especially those encoding proteins, are regulated so they
are expressed at the appropriate time and level needed to maintain the cell
or to promote its growth and proliferation.
Notes
Gene expression includes both transcription
and translation!
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