Gene Expression Regulation: Transcription Factors, Epigenetics, and Cell Differentiation
Students will explore different types of mutations and their potential effects on gene expression and organismal traits.
About This Topic
Students will explore different types of mutations and their potential effects on gene expression and organismal traits.
Key Questions
- Explain how transcription factors regulate eukaryotic gene expression by binding enhancers and promoters, and analyse how combinatorial control, where different combinations of transcription factors specify distinct transcriptional outcomes, enables a limited number of regulators to drive the diversity of cell types in a multicellular organism.
- Compare the lac operon model of prokaryotic gene regulation with eukaryotic enhancer-promoter regulation, evaluating the limitations of the operon model for explaining the spatial and temporal complexity of gene expression during eukaryotic development.
- Evaluate the role of epigenetic modifications, DNA methylation at CpG sites and histone acetylation or deacetylation, in controlling gene expression without altering DNA sequence, referencing cell differentiation, X-chromosome inactivation, and genomic imprinting as examples.
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