Final answer:
After transcription, eukaryotic pre-mRNAs must undergo several processing steps before they can be translated, including capping, splicing, and polyadenylation.
Step-by-step explanation:
After transcription, eukaryotic pre-mRNAs undergo several processing steps before they can be translated. These processing steps include capping, splicing, and polyadenylation. Capping involves the addition of a 5' cap to the mRNA, which serves as a protective structure and facilitates translation initiation.
Splicing removes introns, non-coding regions, from the mRNA and joins together the remaining exons, coding regions. Polyadenylation adds a poly(A) tail to the 3' end of the mRNA, which aids in mRNA stability and translation efficiency. Eukaryotic mRNA must also travel from the nucleus to the cytoplasm due to the presence of a membrane-bound nucleus in eukaryotic cells, which is not found in prokaryotes.