[Campbell Biology P.39] Which of the following statements accurately describes a key differ... | Practice Question

Which of the following statements accurately describes a key difference in gene expression regulation between bacteria prokaryotes and eukaryotes, as described in the text?

  • A: In bacteria, gene expression is primarily regulated at the level of translation, while in eukaryotes, it's mainly at transcription.
  • B: Operons are a common regulatory mechanism in bacteria, allowing coordinated control of functionally related genes, whereas eukaryotes do not typically use operons.
  • C: Eukaryotic gene expression is mostly regulated by positive control mechanisms, while bacterial regulation relies solely on negative control.
  • D: Chromatin structure modification, such as histone acetylation, plays a major role in bacterial gene regulation but is absent in eukaryotes.

Explanation

Operons are a defining feature of bacterial gene regulation, allowing for the coordinated transcription of multiple genes involved in a single metabolic pathway under the control of a single promoter and operator. While eukaryotes regulate gene expression at many stages chromatin remodeling, transcription initiation, RNA processing, translation, protein degradation , they generally do not use operons for coordinated gene expression. Instead, eukaryotic genes with related functions are often scattered across different chromosomes and co-regulated by shared control elements and transcription factors.