Regulation of prokaryotic gene expression is simpler than that in eu.pdf
- 1. Regulation of prokaryotic gene expression is simpler than that in eukaryotes. What evolutionary advantage does this confer? What are drawbacks to this strategy? Solution The eukaryotic cells are evolutionarily more advanced and the major difference between the two cell types lies in the mechanism of gene expression as well as in the presence of organelles. Prokaryotic regulation occurs at just the level of transcription, where s in case of eukaryotes the regulation takes place during almost all stages of transcription and translation. Further on the regulation may also take place in form of post-translational modifications of proteins, methylation of DNA etc. The presence of introns in the eukaryotic DNA enables them to use a particular segment of DNA for multiple gene transcripts through alternative splicing. So, the introns are an added advantage. This has given them benefit to obtain roles higher in the food chain and even form multicellular organisms. As a drawback, it takes more time for eukaryotes to replicate, mutate or adapt to new environments as compared to prokaryotes. This is majorly because of their complicated and large number of genetic components and regulations. Also, during evolution eukaryotes have lost the ability to transfer adaptive genes through plasmids and can only transfer maternal genes through mitochondria which are not really helpful during adaptation.