Unix filesystem

In Unix and operating systems inspired by it, the file system is considered a central component of the operating system. It was also one of the first parts of the system to be designed and implemented by Ken Thompson in the first experimental version of Unix, dated 1969.

Like in other operating systems, the filesystem provides information storage and retrieval, as well as interprocess communication, in the sense that the many small programs that traditionally comprise a Unix system can store information in files so that other programs can read these, although pipes complemented it in this role starting with the Third Edition. Additionally, the filesystem provides access to other resources through so-called device files that are entry points to terminals, printers, and mice.

The rest of this article uses "Unix" as a generic name to refer to both the original Unix operating system as well as its many workalikes.

Principles

The filesystem appears as a single rooted tree of directories. Instead of addressing separate volumes such as disk partitions, removable media, and network shares as separate trees (as done in MS-DOS and Windows: each "drive" has a drive letter that denotes the root of its file system tree), such volumes can be "mounted" on a directory, causing the volume's file system tree to appear as that directory in the larger tree. The root of the entire tree is denoted /.

MNT

MNT may stand for:

MNT (gene)

Max-binding protein MNT is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MNT gene.

Function

The Myc/Max/Mad network comprises a group of transcription factors that co-interact to regulate gene-specific transcriptional activation or repression. This gene encodes a protein member of the Myc/Max/Mad network. This protein has a basic-Helix-Loop-Helix-zipper domain (bHLHzip) with which it binds the canonical DNA sequence CANNTG, known as the E box, following heterodimerization with Max proteins. This protein is likely a transcriptional repressor and an antagonist of Myc-dependent transcriptional activation and cell growth. This protein represses transcription by binding to DNA binding proteins at its N-terminal Sin3-interaction domain.

Interactions

MNT (gene) has been shown to interact with MLX,SIN3A and MAX.

References

Further reading

External links

This article incorporates text from the United States National Library of Medicine, which is in the public domain.