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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Rearing and Double-stranded RNA-mediated Gene Knockdown in the Hide Beetle, Dermestes maculatus
Published on: December 28, 2016
Differential gene expression in insects: transcriptional control
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68588-0118, USA. lharsh@unl.edu
Abstract:
Studies on transcriptional control of gene expression play a pivotal role in many areas of biology. In non-Drosophilid insects, the cuticle, chorion, immune response, silk gland, storage proteins, and vitellogenin are foci for advances in basic research on promoter elements and transcription factors. Insects offer other advantages for gene regulation studies, including the availability of applied problems. In non-Drosophilid insects, the most serious problem for transcriptional control studies is the lack of homologous in vivo expression systems. Once this deficiency is addressed, the full impact of research on transcription control will be realized throughout the field of entomology.
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Transcription
Transcription is the process of synthesizing RNA from a DNA sequence by RNA polymerase. It is the first step in producing a protein from a gene sequence. Additionally, many other proteins and regulatory sequences are involved in the proper synthesis of messenger RNA (mRNA). Regulation of transcription is responsible for the differentiation of all the different types of cells and often for the proper cellular response to environmental signals.
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds...
Position-effect Variegation
Regulation of Expression Occurs at Multiple Steps
Transcription results in the generation of precursor (pre-mRNA) that consists of both exons and introns, which needs further processing before being translated to a...
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Transcription
Transcription Can Produce Different Kinds of RNA Molecules
In eukaryotes,...
Regulation of Expression at Multiple Steps

