What is the difference between 'operon' and 'transcription unit'? | AAT Bioquest

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What is the difference between 'operon' and 'transcription unit'?

Posted April 24, 2020

Cellular Processes Cellular Structures and Organelles DNA DNA and RNA Enzymes Nucleic Acids Peptide and Oligonucleotide Protein RNA

Answer

A transcription unit generally denotes any segment of DNA that codes for an RNA molecule, while an operon is defined as a cluster of genes that are controlled by the same promoter. An operon can encompass multiple transcription units.

Additional resources

Okuda, S., Kawashima, S., Kobayashi, K., Ogasawara, N., Kanehisa, M., & Goto, S. (2007). Characterization of relationships between transcriptional units and operon structures in Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli. BMC Genomics. 8, 48. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-8-48

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