RNA polymerase

RNA polymerase (RNAP or RNApol), a type of nucleic acid polymerase, is an enzyme that produces RNA. In cells, RNAP is necessary for constructing RNA chains from DNA genes as templates, a process called transcription. RNA polymerase enzymes are essential to life and are found in all organisms and many viruses. In chemical terms, RNAP is a nucleotidyl transferase that polymerizes ribonucleotides at the 3' end of an RNA transcript.

Structure

RNA polymerases are large, multi-subunit enzymes. Eukaryotic RNAPs, which are larger (500 kDa) and more complex than those in prokaryotes (400 kDa), are variations of this basic design. They consist of 10-20 protein subunits and are categorized into three types, each type having a different role.

Function

RNA polymerase binds to DNA during the transcription process, separating the DNA strands and synthesizing an RNA molecule based on the DNA template. The RNA molecule is complementary to the DNA strand and is synthesized in the 5' to 3' direction.

Types

There are three types of RNA polymerase in eukaryotic cells. RNA polymerase I is responsible for transcription of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. RNA polymerase II (often abbreviated as Pol II) transcribes all protein-coding genes but also some non-coding RNAs. RNA polymerase III transcribes 5S rRNA, transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and some other small RNAs.

See also

• DNA polymerase
• Transcription (genetics)
• Translation (biology)

RNA polymerase Resources
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