Directionality of Transcription & Translation
- The synthesis of mRNA occurs in three stages:
- Initiation
- Elongation
- Termination
- During initiation, RNA polymerase binds near the promoter, causing the DNA strands to separate to form an open complex
- During elongation, RNA polymerase moves along the template strand
- RNA polymerase adds the 5‘ end of the free RNA nucleotide to the 3’ end of the growing mRNA molecule
- Elongation occurs in a 5’ to 3’ direction, synthesising a single strand of RNA
- Termination occurs when RNA polymerase reaches a terminator sequence
- Which triggers the detachment of the polymerase enzyme and mRNA strand
- When the mRNA is translated at the ribosome it is also read in the 5’ to 3’ direction
Direction of transcription diagram
The template strand of the DNA molecule is the one that is transcribed