Eukaryotic transcription

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Eukaryotic transcription is the elaborate process that eukaryotic cells use to copy genetic information stored in DNA into units of transportable complementary RNA replica.^[1] Gene transcription occurs in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells. Unlike prokaryotic RNA polymerase that initiates the transcription of all different types of RNA, RNA polymerase in eukaryotes (including humans) comes in three variations, each translating a different type of gene. A eukaryotic cell has a nucleus that separates the processes of transcription and translation. Eukaryotic transcription occurs within the nucleus where DNA is packaged into nucleosomes and higher order chromatin structures. The complexity of the eukaryotic genome necessitates a great variety and complexity of gene expression control.

Eukaryotic transcription proceeds in three sequential stages: initiation, elongation, and termination.^[1]

The RNAs transcribed serve diverse functions. For example, structural components of the ribosome are transcribed by RNA polymerase I. Protein coding genes are transcribed by RNA polymerase II into messenger RNAs (mRNAs) that carry the information from DNA to the site of protein synthesis.^[1] More abundantly made are the so-called non-coding RNAs account for the large majority of the transcriptional output of a cell.^[2] These non-coding RNAs perform a variety of important cellular functions.^[2]