Proteins which are normally bound to the operator locus of an operon, thereby preventing transcription of the structural genes. In enzyme induction, the substrate of the inducible enzyme binds to the repressor protein, causing its release from the operator and freeing the structural genes for transcription. In enzyme repression, the end product of the enzyme sequence binds to the free repressor protein, the resulting complex then binds to the operator and prevents transcription of the structural genes.
