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Q.
E. coli with a mutated Z gene of the lac operon cannot
grow in medium containing only lactose as the source of
energy because
Biotechnology : Principles and Processes
Solution:
Structural genes and their products in lac operon are
as follow:
Lac Z (3063bp): This gene codes for the enzyme $\beta$-galactosidase which breaks operon into glucose and galactose. Therefore, E.coli cells with a mutated Z genes of the lac operon cannot grow in a medium containing only lactose as the source of energy as they cannot synthesize functional $\beta$-galactosidase.
