trp Operon Mutations Assignment

Biology SBI4U

Belinda Smith

March 17th, 2018

Mrs. Hemingway
 1. How does gene regulation involving the ​trp​ repressor protein differ from what you observed
with the ​lac ​repressor in the previous lesson? (2 points)

The gene regulation involving trp repressor protein differs from the one with the lac repressor according
to many aspects. Firstly, lac repressor protein is active after being synthesized from the regulatory genes,
it will bind to the operator site directly and the lac operon is turned “off” until lactose is present
(Academy, 2018) . However, the trp repressor protein is initially inactive and won’t hinder the trp operon
unless tryptophan proteins are plentiful in the cells. Therefore, lac repressor protein starts working
immediately after being produced, while trp repressor protein only works under the conditions of excess
tryptophan molecules (Academy, 2018). To summarize, both operons make similar repressors that work
to switch off the operon, but their repressions occur under different situations. The gene regulation
involving lac repressor is controlled by the external product (lactose), but not the end product of the lac
operon. On the other hand, the end product of the trp operon (tryptophan) will participate in the regulation
of its own repression actively.

2. Based on your understanding of gene regulation in the cell and the function of the ​trp
operon, describe how this process would be affected if there was a mutation in the operator
region so that the operator could not carry out its function. (4 points)

If there was a mutation in the operator region so that operator could not carry out the function, then even
after the trp repressor proteins was activated and bound with the excess tryptophan molecules, they would
still lose ability to bind to the operator site. Accordingly, even though there were abundant repressor
proteins, the trp operon would continue transcribing series of genes into RNA transcripts (Bhagavan,
2011). The cell metabolism would be changed negatively as energies and raw materials were wasted,
which will affect the other pivotal cell processes.

3. What would be the result in this process of a genetic mutation that altered the shape of the
trp​ repressor protein? (4 points)

The result of genetic mutation causes the shape of the trp repressor protein to change means that the
repressor is not able to bond with tryptophan properly causing an excess amount of tryptophan to be
created because the repressor is not able to bind with the operator causing RNA polymerase too
continuously bind to the prompter synthesizing more tryptophan (Genetics Home Reference, 2018). If
there was a mutation that altered the shape of trp repressor proteins, then the shape of allosteric sites
might be changed as well, which means it would challegeung for tryptophan molecular, corepressor, to
combine with them. As a result, the end product, tryptophan, of the trp operon would lose ability to
control its own gene repression, and then the cells will keep producing excess tryptophan molecules until
using up all energies and materials that were required (Gene Regulation, 2018).
 References

Academy, K. (n.d.). The trp operon. Retrieved March 15, 2018, from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/gene-regulation/gene-regulation-in-bacter

ia/a/the-trp-operon

Bhagavan, N. (2011). Trp operon. Retrieved March 16, 2018, from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/biochemistry-genetics-and-molecular-biology/trp-o

peron

Prokaryotic Gene Regulation. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2018, from

http://philschatz.com/biology-book/contents/m44535.html

What is a gene mutation and how do mutations occur? - Genetics Home Reference. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 16, 2018, from

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/mutationsanddisorders/genemutation