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CHAPTER 36

RNA Synthesis and Regulation in Bacteria

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36.1 Cellular RNA Is Synthesized by RNA Polymerases
36.2 RNA Synthesis Comprises Three Stages
36.3 The lac Operon Illustrates the Control of Bacterial Gene Expression

A picture of the shores of the French Riviera and a poster identifying “The Great Scourge of Tuberculosis” might seem an odd pairing. However, in 1957 a strain of bacteria was isolated from a soil sample near St. Raphael on the Riviera that produced antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis. Rifampicin, derived from these antibiotics, acts by inhibiting bacterial RNA polymerase.

We begin by examining RNA synthesis and regulation in our constant traveling companion—the gut bacterium E. coli. As we have seen on many occasions before, studies on this model organism are an excellent source of insight into the basic biochemical processes common to all living systems.