Production of Messenger RNA and Regulation of Protein Synthesis

Abstract

The analysis of the genetic regulation of enzyme synthesis in bacteria has led to the assumption that the specific control of protein synthesis operates at the genetic level, that is, at the level of production of templates, or messenger RNA (Jacob and Monod, 1961). This hypothesis is supported by several lines of evidence, which suggest that inducers and repressors either directly or indirectly control the rate of transcription of the structural genes into messenger RNA (M-RNA). In the β-galactosidase system and other inducible systems the study of the early kinetics of enzyme induction and of the effects of very short pulses of inducer has led to the conclusion that the synthesis of an unstable precursor, polynucleotide in nature, precedes the first appearance of enzyme (Pardee and Prestidge, 1961; Magasanik, 1963; Kepes, 1963). Furthermore, the half-life of the β-galactosidase forming capacity after removal of the inducer has been found...