"Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA."
Transcription is the process by which DNA is copied into RNA, and a basic understanding of this process is necessary in molecular biology. This includes the different types of RNA involved in transcription.
DNA Structure and Function: Understanding the basic structure of DNA and how it functions is critical to understanding transcription.
RNA Structure and Function: Understanding the structure and function of RNA is also critical to understanding transcription.
Genetic Code: The genetic code is the sequence of nucleotides (A, C, G, and T) in DNA that determines how proteins are synthesized. Understanding the genetic code is important for understanding transcription.
Promoters: Promoters are DNA sequences that are recognized by RNA polymerase during transcription initiation. Understanding promoters is critical for understanding transcription.
Transcription Factors: Transcription factors are proteins that bind to DNA and control the transcription process. Understanding how transcription factors work is important for understanding transcription.
RNA Polymerase: RNA polymerase is the enzyme that synthesizes RNA during transcription. Understanding RNA polymerase is important for understanding transcription.
Transcription Initiation: Transcription initiation is the process by which RNA polymerase binds to DNA and begins transcription. Understanding transcription initiation is critical for understanding transcription.
Elongation: Elongation is the process by which RNA polymerase synthesizes RNA during transcription. Understanding elongation is important for understanding transcription.
Termination: Termination is the process by which RNA polymerase stops synthesizing RNA and releases the RNA transcript. Understanding termination is important for understanding transcription.
Post-transcriptional Processing: Post-transcriptional processing includes modifications to the RNA transcript, such as splicing and adding a 5’ cap and 3’ poly(A) tail. Understanding post-transcriptional processing is important for understanding transcription.
Regulation of Transcription: Transcription can be regulated by a variety of mechanisms, including transcription factors, DNA methylation, and chromatin structure. Understanding the regulation of transcription is critical for understanding transcription.
Techniques for Studying Transcription: There are a variety of techniques that can be used to study transcription, including chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), and Northern blotting. Understanding these techniques is important for studying transcription.
General Transcription: The process of copying DNA into RNA by RNA polymerase.
Reverse transcription: The process of synthesizing a cDNA (complementary DNA) strand from an RNA template using reverse transcriptase enzyme.
RNA editing: The process of post-transcriptional modification of RNA by adding, deleting or modifying bases in RNA sequences.
Transcriptional regulation: The process of controlling the rate of gene expression by regulating initiation, elongation, and termination of transcription.
RNA splicing: The process of removing introns and joining exons in pre-mRNA to form mature mRNA.
Transcriptional interference: The phenomenon in which one gene affects expression of a neighboring gene by interfering with transcription initiation, elongation or termination.
RNA processing: The process of modifying and maturing RNA molecules, including trimming and modifications of the 5' and 3' ends.
Alternative splicing: The process of splicing pre-mRNAs in different ways to produce different mRNA isoforms from the same gene.
Co-transcriptional processing: The process of modifying RNA molecules as they are being synthesized by RNA polymerase.
Transcriptional pausing: The phenomenon in which RNA polymerase pauses during transcription and waits for a regulatory signal to continue.
Antisense transcription: The process of transcribing RNA molecules in the opposite direction from a gene to produce complementary RNA.
Transcriptional attenuation: The process by which RNA polymerase terminates transcription prematurely due to a regulatory signal.
"The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs)."
"mRNA comprises only 1–3% of total RNA samples."
"Less than 2% of the human genome can be transcribed into mRNA."
"The majority of this 80% (of mammalian genomic DNA) is considered to be ncRNA."
"Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a complementary language."
"During transcription, a DNA sequence is read by an RNA polymerase."
"RNA polymerase produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript."
"RNA polymerase generates a transcription bubble, which separates the two strands of the DNA helix."
"RNA polymerase adds RNA nucleotides (which are complementary to the nucleotides of one DNA strand)."
"RNA sugar-phosphate backbone forms with assistance from RNA polymerase to form an RNA strand."
"Hydrogen bonds of the RNA-DNA helix break, freeing the newly synthesized RNA strand."
"If the cell has a nucleus, the RNA may be further processed. This may include polyadenylation, capping, and splicing."
"The RNA may remain in the nucleus or exit the cytoplasm through the nuclear pore complex."
"Other stretches of DNA may be transcribed into small non-coding RNAs such as microRNA, transfer RNA (tRNA), small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA), small nuclear RNA (snRNA), or enzymatic RNA molecules called ribozymes."
"Other stretches of DNA may be transcribed into larger non-coding RNAs such as ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)."
"RNA helps synthesize, regulate, and process proteins; it, therefore, plays a fundamental role in performing functions within a cell."
"In virology, the term transcription may also be used when referring to mRNA synthesis from an RNA molecule (i.e., equivalent to RNA replication)."
"For instance, the genome of a negative-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA -) virus may be a template for a positive-sense single-stranded RNA (ssRNA +)."
"This process (mRNA synthesis from an RNA molecule) is catalyzed by a viral RNA replicase."