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Definition. Gene regulation is the process used to control the timing, location and amount in which genes are expressed. The process can be complicated and is carried out by a variety of mechanisms, including through regulatory proteins and chemical modification of DNA.

Transcription, as related to genomics, is the process of making an RNA copy of a gene's DNA sequence. This copy, called messenger RNA (mRNA), carries the gene's protein information encoded in DNA.

Transcriptional regulation is a critical biological process that allows the cell or an organism to respond to a variety of intra- and extra-cellular signals, to define cell identity during development, to maintain it throughout its lifetime, and to coordinate cellular activity.

Transcription termination occurs when a transcribing RNA polymerase releases the DNA template and the nascent RNA. Termination is required for preventing the inappropriate transcription of downstream genes, and for recycling of the polymerase.

First, transcription is controlled by limiting the amount of mRNA that is produced from a particular gene. The second level of control is through post-transcriptional events that regulate the translation of mRNA into proteins. Even after a protein is made, post-translational modifications can affect its activity.

The regulation of gene expression in bacteria occurs predominantly at the level of transcription, which is controlled by RNA polymerase. The specificity of this process is ensured by sigma factors, which are essential regulatory subunits of RNA polymerase conferring promoter specificity.

The maltose operon is an example of a positive control of transcription. When maltose is not present in E. coli, no transcription of the maltose genes will occur, and there is no maltose to bind to the maltose activator protein.