Biology / Unit 6 Bio 1263 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Prokaryotic Transcription Elongation and Termination
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The idea
Prokaryotic RNA polymerase elongates an RNA strand in the 5'-to-3' direction until it reaches a terminator sequence, signaling transcription to stop.
In practice
RNA polymerase reads the DNA template and builds a complementary RNA strand until a terminator sequence causes it to release.
Where people slip
Termination in prokaryotes releases a finished RNA directly — prokaryotic RNA generally needs none of the extensive processing eukaryotic RNA requires.
Your place on the trail
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