An in vitro system to measure gene expression based on dipeptide synthesis.

A simplified E. coli in vitro system has been developed to study gene expression based on the synthesis of the first di- or tripeptide of the gene product. Plasmids containing bacterial and chloroplast genes have been used as templates in this system. The expression of the E. coli L10 operon, which is under both transcriptional and translational control, has been investigated in some detail using the dipeptide system. A similar system has been developed, using eukaryotic translation components, to measure the expression of eukaryotic mRNA based on dipeptide formation.