Animations
Movies
Words
Appendix
Summary
Art
Art
Chapter
18
Quizzes:
Self
Activities
Chapter
Cum.
Unit 3: Genetics
The Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria
Review
Prokaryotes, such as the bacterium
Escherichia coli
that lives in the human colon, are
organisms whose cells are much smaller and simpler than those of
.
are smaller and
simpler
still. Viruses that infect bacteria are called
, or phages.
A
virus
consists of a genome of nucleic acid (either
or
) enclosed in a
coat made of
which form a
.
Viruses
are obligate intracellular
. and can reproduce only within a limited range of host cells.
Host
enzymes, ribosomes, and other molecules are used to synthesize progeny viruses.
Phages go through two alternative
mechanisms: the
cycle and the
cycle.
The
lytic
cycle of a phage such as
culminates in the death of the host; such a phage is
considered
.
The lysogenic cycle of a
phage such as
(λ) does not kill the host; the viral genome
into the host DNA and is
along with the host as a
.
Temperate
phages are also capable entering a
cycle under certain
conditions.
Many animal viruses have a membranous envelope with
that bind to specific
molecules on the surface of a
host
cell.
Retroviruses
use the enzyme
transcriptase to copy their
genome into
, which can then be integrated into the host genome as a
.
HIV
is a
that
contains
its own
transcriptase.
The prokaryotic genome is usually a circular
ring
of DNA located in a
region; some also have smaller
rings
of DNA called
. Bacterial cells divide by
fission,
an asexual process that produces two genetically identical cells.
Genetic recombination in bacteria occurs in three processes:
,
, and
.
Transformation
is the alteration of a bacterial cell's
by the uptake of naked, foreign
DNA
from the surrounding environment.
Transduction
is the transfer of bacterial
from one host cell to another through
.
Conjugation
is the direct transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells joined by sex
.
Bacterial genes are often clustered into
, composed of an
("on-off" switch), a
, and
for enzymes.
In the
trp
operon, the presence of the amino acid
(a corepressor) activates a
which binds to the
to inhibit the
of genes that code for enzymes for tryptophan synthesis. Repressible enzymes usually function in
pathways.
In the
lac
operon, the lactose
isomer
serves as an
which binds to and inactivates the
, turning on transcription and translation of enzymes for lactose digestion. Inducible enzymes usually function in
pathways.
The
lac
operon is also subject to
control, where a catabolite activator protein
(CAP)
serves as an
.
When glucose (a preferred food source), is
scarce,
the level of
cAMP
rises, activating
, which binds to the
to increase transcription.
When glucose levels
increase,
cAMP levels drop, and
detaches from the lac operon, becoming an
inactive
activator.
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