Question

You are examining the Psf gene and it is known that Psf is normally produced when cells are exposed to high levels of both Ca^2+ and Mg^2+. MetA, MetB, and MetC are important for binding to the promoter of the Psf gene and are involved in regulating its transcription. MetA binds to the A site in the promoter region, MetB binds to the B site, and MetC to the C site. You create binding site mutations in the A,B, and C sites and observe what happens to transcription of the Psf gene. Your results are summarized in a table pictured.

Which of the following proteins are likely to act as GENE ACTIVATORS?
(a) MetA only
(b) MetB only
(c) MetC only
(d) both MetA and MetC

Answer 1

MetA and MetC are likely to act as gene activators.

Step-by-step explanation:

The proteins that are likely to act as gene activators in this case are MetA and MetC. It is known that Psf gene is normally produced when cells are exposed to high levels of both Ca^2+ and Mg^2+. MetA binds to the A site in the promoter region, and MetC binds to the C site. Therefore, mutations in the A and C sites would likely disrupt the binding of MetA and MetC, resulting in reduced transcription of the Psf gene.