Part III -Long problem (15 points). Address the following problem. Do not be ove
ID: 218207 • Letter: P
Question
Part III -Long problem (15 points). Address the following problem. Do not be overly wordy just do what is asked as succinctly as possible. You must answer the question in this section 1. An undergraduate research student is interested in studying regulation of gene expression in the lac operon of bacteria. She decides to focus on histone methylation, which she has read can reduce gene expression, She adds histone methltransferase enzyme (which methylates to a culture of E. coli bacteria, a prokaryotic model organism. She observes no change in gene expression of the operon genes in the E. coli, even though the histone methyltransferase enzyme is active. Explain the major flaw in the student's experiment. Then, describe the levels of gene expression that exist in prokaryotes and which level/levels are most important. Finally, give two other approaches that the student could take if she were interested in reducing expression of operon genes. lacExplanation / Answer
She observed no change in the expression of gene as she added the histone methyltransferase enzyme and histone proteins are not present in prokaryotes.
Eukaryotes have two level of gene expression. One is transcription and other is translational level. In prokaryotes, as introns are absent, so transcription and translation take place at the same time. When protein is needed by prokaryotes, transcription begin, so transcription is most important.
Introduction of repressor proteins in lac operon if she is interested in reducing the expression.