n.
A unit of genetic material that functions in a coordinated manner by means of an operator, a promoter, and one or more structural genes that are transcribed together.
[OPER(ATOR) + -ON1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
