20/07/2026
Tryptophan Operon: Attenuation
Leader mRNA (trpL)
The leader region is about 162–166 nucleotides long and contains four segments:
1, 2, 3, and 4
These regions can form alternative stem-loop structures.
When Tryptophan is High
Ribosome quickly translates the leader peptide because charged tRNAᵀʳᵖ is abundant.
Region 2 becomes unavailable.
Regions 3 and 4 pair together.
This forms a 3–4 hairpin (terminator hairpin)