terminology

[rockind78]

I know that transcriptional start sites are called promoters. My professor made reference to a "core promoter" on a day that I missed class (looking at notes from that day). I am not familiar with this terminology, can anyone help me out here?

[iansmith]

The core promoter is the element for specific initiation of transcription wheres as the promoter is DNA region which also contain transcription factor binding sites similar to enhancers.
I have only seen core promoter used for eucarya type of transcription but it could also be for bacteria and archea.

[Monique]

Originally posted by rockind78
I know that transcriptional start sites are called promoters. TSSs are not promotors, the region upstream and including TSS is a promotor. I guess the core promotor would describe the most important elements for transcription to take place, such as a TATA box and the ATG.

[rockind78]

Originally posted by Monique
TSSs are not promotors, the region upstream and including TSS is a promotor.

You are right. I don't know what I was thinking...brain lapse I guess.[zz)] Ian pretty much hit on the head with the core promoter thing. I actually found it in my textbook. If you haven't looked at 'em already, the "Genes" books by Lewin are excellent.

[Another God]

This is more like it. Bring on more threads like this. Thanks for the great question Rockind78. Easy enough for Ian and Monique to answer, but important enough for people like me to need a little revision in [:D]

I'm going to start up a thread which we sort of had in the old PF, the Molecular Biology Q and A. The old version was more like a game, like, ask a question you knew the answer to, just to see if someone else knew it, or knew something better...

This time I think we will make it a free for all....