attenuator
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at·ten·u·a·tor
(ă-ten'yū-ā-tŏr, -tōr),1. An electrical system of resistors and capacitors used to reduce the strength of electrical signals, as in ultrasonography.
2. The terminator sequence in DNA at which attenuation occurs; located between the operator and the gene for the first protein in an operon.
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012
attenuator
a regulatory NUCLEOTIDE sequence occurring in the LEADER REGION of an operon (see OPERON MODEL and containing a TRANSCRIPTION stop signal. The attenuator acts as a fine control mechanism for the activity of structural genes, sometimes being operative, sometimes not, depending on conditions in the cell.Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005