General Genetics/Gene Expression in Eukaryotes

Eukaryotic Gene Expression The gene regulatory mechanisms of Eukaryotic organisms are slightly more complex than the single, operon controlled model seen in prokaryotes. This complexity is due to the multicellular nature of Eukaryotes. Every eukaryotic cell contains the same DNA as every other cell in the organism. This is known as the organism's "genome." In order for cells to specialize and turn into, say, a neuron or a muscle cell, gene regulatory elements must turn off certain genes and upregulate other genes. So although every cell in a eukaryote has the same genome, they each have different proteins that are active at different concentrations. This difference is known as an organism's "proteome," or the sum total of all proteins currently encoded by the cell. We will discuss some of the common regulatory mechanisms seen in eukaryotes that allow for this differentiation seen in cells. Transcriptional Regulation Post Transcriptional Regulation Translational Regulation Post-translational Regulation