Operon Problem Solving
You are investigating a new bacterial operon that contains five regions (A, B, C, D and E) involved
in coordinated regulation of transcription. You do not know the order of the components in the
genome.
The possible parts of the operon are listed below. This is NOT the lac operon, but, for reference, I
have provided examples from the lac operon that match each description:
one gene for a regulatory protein (for example lacI)
one binding site for the regulatory protein (for example the operator)
two structural genes that produce protein 1 and protein 2 (for example lacZ and lacY)
one promoter for the two structural genes. (for example lacP)
+ + + +
The table below shows data collected for five different bacterial strains - a WT strain (A B C D E
+)
and four mutants. Under the strains A "+" superscript indicates that the region is WT and a "-"
superscript indicates that the region is not functional.
Within the table, a "+" indicates that the structural protein is produced and a "-" indicates that the
protein is not produced. The "signal" is a molecule that either represses or induces the operon (for
example allolactose).
Strain Protein 1 Protein 1 Protein 2 Protein 2
-signal +signal -signal +signal
+ + + + +
A B C D E + - + -
- + + + +
A B C D E - - + -
+ - + + +
A B C D E + + + +
+ + - + +
A B C D E - - - -
+ + + - +
A B C D E + - - -
+ + + + -
A B C D E + + + +
Match the region with its role in the operon..
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Operon Problem Solving You are investigating a new bacterial.pdf
1. Operon Problem Solving
You are investigating a new bacterial operon that contains five regions (A, B, C, D and E) involved
in coordinated regulation of transcription. You do not know the order of the components in the
genome.
The possible parts of the operon are listed below. This is NOT the lac operon, but, for reference, I
have provided examples from the lac operon that match each description:
one gene for a regulatory protein (for example lacI)
one binding site for the regulatory protein (for example the operator)
two structural genes that produce protein 1 and protein 2 (for example lacZ and lacY)
one promoter for the two structural genes. (for example lacP)
The table below shows data collected for five different bacterial strains - a WT strain (A
+
B
+
C
+
D
+
E
+
) and four mutants. Under the strains A "+" superscript indicates that the region is WT and a "-"
superscript indicates that the region is not functional.
Within the table, a "+" indicates that the structural protein is produced and a "-" indicates that the
protein is not produced. The "signal" is a molecule that either represses or induces the operon (for
example allolactose).
Match the region with its role in the operon.
Strain Protein 1 Protein 1 Protein 2 Protein 2
-signal +signal -signal +signal
A
+
B
+
C
+
D
+
E
+
+ - + -
A
-
B
+
C
+
D
+
E
+
- - + -
A
+
B
-
C
+
D
+
E
+
+ + + +
A
+
B
+
C
-
D
+
E
+
- - - -
A
+
B
+
C
+
D
-
E
+
+ - - -
A
+
B
+
C
+
D
+
E
-
+ + + +
