Animation 11.3 Initiation of Transcription

INTRODUCTION

Of the approximately 21,000 protein-coding genes in human cells, only a fraction of these are expressed in any one cell type, or at any particular time in development, or at any one stage in the cell cycle. The ability for a gene to be transcribed depends on the presence of numerous proteins.

Video titled: Animation 11.3 Initiation of Transcription

Transcript Area

Textbook Reference: Key Concept 12.1 The -omics Era Has Revolutionized Biology, p.286

CONCLUSION

In the accompanying animation, we examined the formation of a transcription initiation complex in eukaryotes. Protein-coding genes in eukaryotes require the formation of this complex in order for transcription to begin. In addition, many genes also require the binding of regulator and activator proteins. The presence of such proteins in a cell thus determines whether a gene is transcribed.

For example, in the immature red blood cells of bone marrow, which make a large amount of β-globin, the transcription of globin genes is stimulated by the binding of 7 regulators and 6 activators. But in white blood cells in the same bone marrow, these 13 proteins are not made, and therefore they cannot bind to their sites adjacent to the β-globin genes; consequently, these genes are hardly transcribed at all.

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