Transcription

The synthesis of RNA complementary to a strand of a DNA molecule. In prokaryotes the majority of the transcriptionally active genes are located in the leading strand of replication and are transcribed in the same direction as the DNA synthesis. In the absence of a functional DNA helicase, genes involved in the replication of the lagging strand are hampered by the transcription complex fork and stalled for many minutes. If, however, the DNA helicase is present the replication fork on the lagging strand can quickly pass the RNA polymerase complex. In prokaryotes, transcription and translation are coupled unlike in eukaryotes where the mRNA must be released through the nuclear pore complex into the cytoplasm. Transcription is most commonly regulated by a variety of proteins (transcription factors). In the red clover necrotic mosaic virus (RCNMV), a subgenomic portion (sgRNA) of one of the two RNA genomes (RNA-1), a 34-base portion of the RNA-2, is required for the transactivation