WANI Dictionary

Operon

An operon is a functional unit of a genomic DNA that contains multiple genes transcribed as a single mRNA.

Operons are commonly present in bacterial genomes, and Escherichia coli genome is estiamted to have 633 - 700 operons [3].

Definitions in the literature

• Operon is a string of one or more genes, which is transcribed as a fundamental unit and is on the same strand of a genomic sequence [1].
• An operon is a functional unit of genomic DNA containing a group of functionally related genes under precise control [2].