Gene expression

[roniadam]

Hi All:

as we know every gene has an allele on each chromosome. My question is that if we have a protein that is produced by more than one gene (e.g. alpha globin wich is produced by alpha 1 and alpha 2 genes on each chromosome). In this case we will have 4 genes from both chromosome. How the globin will be expressed. I mean Is every gene will produce 1/4 of the protein??? Am I right in my thinking?

[MrMistery]

well not really. you see each chromosome has 2 alleles that produce their own polypeptide products. But the fact that a hemoglobin molecule contains two alpha chains does not necessarily mean that one subunit came from one allele and the other came from the other allele. both alleles produce their proteins independently, and then the alpha chains in the cytoplasmic pool combine randomly to give rise to hemoglobin tetramers.

Cheers,
Andrei