Final answer:
Eukaryotic transcription initiation involves the action of RNA polymerase and transcription factors. RNA polymerase cannot initiate transcription in eukaryotic cells without the help of transcription factors. Two types of transcription factors, general and specific, work together to facilitate transcription by binding to different regions of the gene promoter.
Step-by-step explanation:
Like prokaryotic cells, the transcription of genes in eukaryotes requires the action of an RNA polymerase to bind to a DNA sequence upstream of a gene in order to initiate transcription. However, unlike prokaryotic cells, the eukaryotic RNA polymerase requires other proteins, or transcription factors, to facilitate transcription initiation.
RNA polymerase by itself cannot initiate transcription in eukaryotic cells. There are two types of transcription factors that regulate eukaryotic transcription: General (or basal) transcription factors bind to the core promoter region to assist with the binding of RNA polymerase.
Specific transcription factors bind to various regions outside of the core promoter region and interact with the proteins at the core promoter to enhance or repress the activity of the polymerase.