词条 | operon |
释义 | operon genetics genetic regulatory system found in bacteria and their viruses in which genes coding for functionally related proteins are clustered along the DNA. This feature allows protein synthesis to be controlled coordinately in response to the needs of the cell. By providing the means to produce proteins only when and where they are required, the operon allows the cell to conserve energy (which is an important part of an organism's life strategy). A typical operon consists of a group of structural genes that code for enzymes involved in a metabolic pathway, such as the biosynthesis of an amino acid. These genes are located contiguously on a stretch of DNA and are under the control of one promoter (a short segment of DNA to which the RNA polymerase binds to initiate transcription). A single unit of messenger RNA (mRNA) is transcribed from the operon and is subsequently translated into separate proteins. ![]() The operon theory was first proposed by the French microbiologists François Jacob (Jacob, François) and Jacques Monod (Monod, Jacques) in the early 1960s. In their classic paper they described the regulatory mechanism of the lac operon of Escherichia coli, a system that allows the bacterium to repress the production of enzymes involved in lactose metabolism when lactose is not available. |
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