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Concept
Transcription (biology)
Summary
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. 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 (Human genome#Coding vs. noncoding DNA), while at least 80% of mammalian genomic DNA can be actively transcribed (in one or more types of cells), with the majority of this 80% 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, which produces a complementary, antiparallel RNA strand called a primary transcript.
Transcription proceeds in the following general steps:
RNA polymerase, together with one or more general transcription factors, binds to promoter DNA.
RNA polymerase generates a transcription bubble, which separates the two strands of the DNA helix. This is done by breaking the hydrogen bonds between complementary DNA nucleotides.
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.
If the stretch of DNA is transcribed into an RNA molecule that encodes a protein, the RNA is termed messenger RNA (mRNA); the mRNA, in turn, serves as a template for the protein's synthesis through translation. 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 as well as larger non-coding RNAs such as ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA).
Official source
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