Gene regulation prokaryotes

GENE REGULATION IN PROKARYOTES EUKARYOTES DIFFERS IN IMPORTANT RESPECTS... 

C. Eukaryotic gene regulation is much more complex than in prokaryotes, with expression dependent on several types of transcription factors as well as chromatin structure. 

The effects of chromosome structure on gene regulation in eukaryotes have no clear parallel in prokaryotes. In the eukaryotic cell cycle, interphase chromosomes appear, at first viewing, to be dispersed and amorphous (see Figs 12-41, 24-25). Nevertheless, several forms of chromatin can be found along these chromosomes. About 10% of the chromatin in a typical eukaryotic cell is in a more condensed form than the rest of the chromatin. This form, heterochromatin, is transcriptionally inactive. Heterochromatin is generally associated... 

Provides an excellent account of the experimental basis of important concepts of prokaryotic gene regulation. 

Struhl, K. (1999) Fundamentally different logic of gene regulation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Cell 98, 1-4. 

We have seen how interactions between DNA-binding proteins such as CAP and RNA polymerase can activate transcription in prokaryotic cells (Section 31.1.6). Such protein-protein interactions play a dominant role in eukaryotic gene regulation. In contrast with those of prokaryotic transcription, few eukaryotic transcription factors have any effect on transcription on their own. Instead, each factor recruits other proteins to build up large complexes that interact with the transcriptional machinery to activate or repress Panscription. 

How is gene expression controlled Gene activity is controlled first and foremost at the level of transcription. Whether a gene is transcribed is determined largely by the interplay between specific DNA sequences and the specific proteins that bind to these sequences. We first consider gene regulation mechanisms in prokaryotes and particularly in E. coli, because... 

Despite these differences, some aspects of gene regulation in eukaryotes are quite similar to those in prokaryotes. In particular, activator and repressor proteins that recognize specific DNA sequences are central to many... 

Munch, R., Hiller, K., Barg, H., et al. (2003) PRODORIC prokaryotic database of gene regulation. Nucleic Acids Res. 31, 266-269. 

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