repressor

[ ri-pres-er ]

noun

1. represser.
2. Genetics. a protein that binds DNA at an operator site and thereby prevents transcription of one or more adjacent genes.

repressor

/ rɪˈprɛsə /

noun

1. biochem a protein synthesized under the control of a repressor gene, which has the capacity to bind to the operator gene and thereby shut off the expression of the structural genes of an operon

repressor

/ rĭ-prĕs′ər /

1. A protein that binds to an operator, blocking transcription of an operon and the enzymes for which the operon codes.

Word History and Origins

Origin of repressor¹

From Latin, dating back to 1955–60; repress, -tor

Example Sentences

But Mr. Etchecolatz surrendered few secrets during a series of trials over the decades as crowds jeered him as a “killer” and “repressor,” once throwing red paint at him in 2006.

From Washington Post

And that means that people are all of a sudden seeing, in very vivid detail, what repressors can accomplish with disinformation campaigns.

From Scientific American

The researchers enhanced this silencing effect by hitching Cas9 to a repressor, another protein that inhibits gene expression.

From Science Magazine

In 1957, Pardee, Monod, and Jacob discovered that the lactose operon was controlled by a single master switch—a protein eventually called the repressor.

From Literature

Researchers genetically altered monkeyflowers in the laboratory to observe how the two genes generate an activator molecule and a repressor molecule to produce the stunning variety of the blossoms.

From Nature