Question

Which of the following characteristics of bacterial transcription is NOT true of eukaryotic transcription?

A) RNA polymerase interacts with DNA upstream from the coding sequence in the template.
B) Abortive transcripts are formed prior to the elongation phase.
C) Specific factors are used to direct the polymerase to bind a specific type of promoter sequence.
d) RNA polymerase interacts with a single transcription factor during initiation.

Answer 1

In eukaryotic transcription, several transcription factors are involved in the initiation process, not just a single transcription factor as in bacterial transcription.

Step-by-step explanation:

The characteristic of bacterial transcription that is NOT true of eukaryotic transcription is 'RNA polymerase interacts with a single transcription factor during initiation'. In eukaryotic transcription, initiation involves the binding of several transcription factors to complex promoter sequences upstream of the gene being copied.

These transcription factors are essential as the eukaryotic RNA polymerase cannot initiate transcription on its own. Contrarily, during bacterial transcription, RNA polymerase can interact with a single transcription factor such as sigma factor to initiate transcription.