Regulation of the L-arabinose operon of Escherichia coli

Abstract

Over forty years of research on the L-arabinose operon of Escherichia coli have provided insights into the mechanism of positive regulation of gene activity. This research also discovered DNA looping and the mechanism by which the regulatory protein changes its DNA-binding properties in response to the presence of arabinose. As is frequently seen in focused research on biological subjects, the initial studies were primarily genetic. Subsequently, the genetic approaches were augmented by physiological and then biochemical studies. Now biophysical studies are being conducted at the atomic level, but genetics still has a crucial role in the study of this system.