Title: inducer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - inducer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.I03017
Status: current

Definition
A small molecule that triggers gene transcription by binding to a regulator protein (cf. enzyme induction). It acts by combining with the corresponding repressor protein to bring about an allosteric change so that the repressor is made incapable of combining with the operator of the system.

Related Terms
- enzyme induction: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/ET02156
- gene transcription: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/G02604
- operator: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/O04300
- repressor: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05304

Source
- PAC, 1992, 64, 143. 'Glossary for chemists of terms used in biotechnology (IUPAC Recommendations 1992)' on page 157 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199264010143)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/I03017/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/I03017/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/I03017/xml

Citation: Citation: 'inducer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.I03017
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-01T11:29:32+00:00