Part II. Gene Regulation with Operons 4. When bacteria find themselves in an environment rich in the sugar lactose, they will digest the lactose using specific enzymes. However, most of the time bacteria are not in a lactose rich environment, so they don't need to make those enzymes most of the time (that would be expensive and wasteful). The enzymes needed to digest lactose are coded by the lac operon. a. Would you expect the lac operon to be inducible or repressible? Explain your reasoning. b. What role does lactose play in regulating the lac operon? What does it do, exactly, to promote gene expression in this case? c. Briefly explain what needs to happen for the lac operon to return to its original "off" state (not being transcribed).

Biology (MindTap Course List)
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ISBN:9781337392938
Author:Eldra Solomon, Charles Martin, Diana W. Martin, Linda R. Berg
Publisher:Eldra Solomon, Charles Martin, Diana W. Martin, Linda R. Berg
Chapter14: Gene Regulation
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Problem 13TYU: INTERPRET DATA Develop a simple hypothesis that would explain the behavior of each of the following...
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Part II. Gene Regulation with Operons
4. When bacteria find themselves in an environment rich in the sugar lactose, they will
digest the lactose using specific enzymes. However, most of the time bacteria are not in a
lactose rich environment, so they don't need to make those enzymes most of the time
(that would be expensive and wasteful). The enzymes needed to digest lactose are coded
by the lac operon.
a. Would you expect the lac operon to be inducible or repressible? Explain your
reasoning.
b. What role does lactose play in regulating the lac operon? What does it do, exactly,
to promote gene expression in this case?
c. Briefly explain what needs to happen for the lac operon to return to its original "off"
state (not being transcribed).
Transcribed Image Text:Part II. Gene Regulation with Operons 4. When bacteria find themselves in an environment rich in the sugar lactose, they will digest the lactose using specific enzymes. However, most of the time bacteria are not in a lactose rich environment, so they don't need to make those enzymes most of the time (that would be expensive and wasteful). The enzymes needed to digest lactose are coded by the lac operon. a. Would you expect the lac operon to be inducible or repressible? Explain your reasoning. b. What role does lactose play in regulating the lac operon? What does it do, exactly, to promote gene expression in this case? c. Briefly explain what needs to happen for the lac operon to return to its original "off" state (not being transcribed).
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