Unit 1 - Topic 2 - Proteins - Section A - The proteome

Question 1

What is the proteome?

Answer 1

The proteome is the entire set of proteins expressed by a genome

Question 2

Why is the proteome larger than the number of genes?

Answer 2

The proteome is larger than the number of genes, particularly in eukaryotes, because more than one protein can be produced from a single gene as a result of alternative RNA splicing

Question 3

What are genes that do not code for proteins called and what do they do

Answer 3

Genes that do not code for proteins are called non-coding RNA genes and include those that are transcribed to produce tRNA, rRNA, and RNA molecules that control the expression of other genes

Question 4

What are factors affecting the set of proteins expressed in a given cell type

Answer 4

The metabolic activity of the cell, cellular stress, the response to signalling molecules, and diseased versus healthy cells.