The lactose(lac) operon in E. coli is an example of a gene that is repressed when lactose is not available in a cell. In 3-5 sentences explain what this means using correct terminology
The lactose operon in E. coli is a set of genes involved in the metabolism of lactose. It consists of three main components - the lacZ, lacY, and lacA genes. When lactose is not available in the cell, the lac operon is repressed. This means that the lac repressor protein binds to the operator region of the operon, preventing RNA polymerase from transcribing the genes. As a result, the enzymes required for lactose metabolism are not produced, conserving cellular resources.
