Chapter 13 - Introduction

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To fully appreciate this tutorial, you should be familiar with the concepts of:
• Structural genes
• Gene transcription and translation

After this tutorial, you will be able to describe:
• The structure of the lactose operon
• How the production of enzymes involved in lactose metabolism is controlled

How do bacteria know what enzymes to make and when they need to make them?

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The lactose operon
Interactive diagram
Summary

Gene expression must be regulated for cells with identical genetic material to specialize; not all genetic information contained in a specific cell is used to define and direct that cell. Although bacteria are not multicellular, they still need to regulate the expression of their genes. Control of gene expression is a crucial feature of overall gene regulation for all organisms, whether they are unicellular or multicellular.