Question

Which of the following does not increase the stability of eukaryotic mRNAs?

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a
A 5'-end cap
b
A poly-A tail
c
An intron

Answer 1

The stability of eukaryotic mRNAs is increased by the presence of a 5' cap and a poly-A tail. Introns do not increase mRNA stability.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer is c. An intron. The stability of eukaryotic mRNAs is increased by the presence of both a 5' cap and a poly-A tail. The 5' cap protects the mRNA from exonuclease attack at the 5' end, while the poly-A tail protects the mRNA from degradation by exonucleases at the 3' end. In contrast, introns are noncoding regions of the mRNA that need to be spliced out before the mRNA can be translated into a protein. They do not contribute to the stability of the mRNA.