An allosteric transcription regulator called HisP regulates the enzymes for hist

Question

An allosteric transcription regulator called HisP regulates the enzymes for histidine biosynthesis in the bacterium E. coli. Histidine modulates HisP activity. On binding histidine, HisP alters its conformation, markedly changing its affinity for the regulatory sequences in the promoters of the genes for the histidine biosynthetic enzymes.

a. Compare/contrast the regulatory sequences HisP would bind if it functions as a gene repressor verus a gene activator.

b. As a repressor, would you expect that HisP would bind more tightly or less tightly to the regulatory sequences when histidine is abundant? Explain your answer.

c. As an activator, would you expect that HisP would bind more tightly or less tightly to the regulatory sequences when histidine levels are low? Explain your answer.

Explanation / Answer

a. ANS: Comparision between gene repressor vs a gene activator:

Gene repressor bind more tightly to the regulatorysequences when histidine is abundant

Gene activator should bind more tightly to the regulatory sequences when histidine levels are low

b. ANS: If HisP functions as a gene repressor, it would bind more tightly to the regulatorysequences when histidine is abundant, because the histidine biosynthetic genesshould be turned off when the cell has enough histidine.

c. ANS: If HisP functions as a gene activator, it should bind more tightly to the regulatory sequences when histidine levels are low. When histidine levels are low, the cell needs to synthesize more histidine.

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