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A DNA sequence is called a "sense" sequence if it is the same as that of a messenger RNA copy that is translated into protein. [37] The sequence on the opposite strand is called the "antisense" sequence.
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. Some segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins, called messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are transcribed into RNA molecules called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs). Both DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, which use base pairs of nucleotides as a ...
The process that copies DNA is called DNA replication. [8] It is through a similar process that a child inherits genes from its parents when a copy from the mother is mixed with a copy from the father. DNA can be copied very easily and accurately because each piece of DNA can direct the assembly of a new copy of its information.
[1] [2] [3] During gene expression (the synthesis of RNA or protein from a gene), DNA is first copied into RNA. RNA can be directly functional or be the intermediate template for the synthesis of a protein. The transmission of genes to an organism's offspring, is the basis of the inheritance of phenotypic traits from one generation to the next.
This RNA is complementary to the template 3′ → 5′ DNA strand, [1] with the exception that thymines (T) are replaced with uracils (U) in the RNA and possible errors. In bacteria, transcription is carried out by a single type of RNA polymerase, which needs to bind a DNA sequence called a Pribnow box with the help of the sigma factor protein ...
Double stranded DNA that enters from the front of the enzyme is unzipped to avail the template strand for RNA synthesis. For every DNA base pair separated by the advancing polymerase, one hybrid RNA:DNA base pair is immediately formed. DNA strands and nascent RNA chain exit from separate channels; the two DNA strands reunite at the trailing end ...
Many viruses replicate this way. The enzymes that copy RNA to new RNA, called RNA-dependent RNA polymerases, are also found in many eukaryotes where they are involved in RNA silencing. [11] RNA editing, in which an RNA sequence is altered by a complex of proteins and a "guide RNA", could also be seen as an RNA-to-RNA transfer.
While the sugar-phosphate "backbone" of DNA contains deoxyribose, RNA contains ribose instead. [6] Ribose has a hydroxyl group attached to the pentose ring in the 2' position, whereas deoxyribose does not. The hydroxyl groups in the ribose backbone make RNA more chemically labile than DNA by lowering the activation energy of hydrolysis.