A 6-year-old girl with chronic anemia requiring repeated blood transfusions is undergoing genetic testing. The patient's mother and older sibling have a history of mild anemia. Her peripheral blood smear shows hypochromic, microcytic red blood cells, and hemoglobin electrophoresis reveals a predominance of hemoglobins F and A2. Sequencing of the Beta-globin gene is performed using the patient's erythroblast DNA. A schematic representation of the gene and its transcribed RNA is shown in the image below. The base sequence indicated by the bold red arrow is responsible for which of the following functions?

Question

A 6-year-old girl with chronic anemia requiring repeated blood transfusions is undergoing genetic testing.  The patient's mother and older sibling have a history of mild anemia.  Her peripheral blood smear shows hypochromic, microcytic red blood cells, and hemoglobin electrophoresis reveals a predominance of hemoglobins F and A2.  Sequencing of the Beta-globin gene is performed using the patient's erythroblast DNA.  A schematic representation of the gene and its transcribed RNA is shown in the image below.  The base sequence indicated by the bold red arrow is responsible for which of the following functions?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: The TATA and CAAT boxes are promoters of transcription in eukaryotic cells and are located approximately 25 and 75 bases upstream from the transcription start site, respectively.  They promote initiation of transcription by serving as binding sites for transcription factors and RNA polymerase II.

A 6-Year-Old Girl with Chronic Anemia Requiring Repeated Blood Transfusions