RNA Polymerases

In the 1960’s two scientists named François Jacob and Jacques Monod explored how the regulation of transcription of DNA affects the enzyme levels in a cell. They found this information through experiments in eubacteria and eukaryotes. According to Kireeva (2013) “However, the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase proved elusive until 1960, when it was independently identified in bacteria by Hurwitz and Stevens and in plants by the Bonner group” (p. 8325). There were also many experiments after these in which the scientists focused mostly on the mechanisms of the RNA polymerization (Kireeva, 2013). Kireeva also stated in her article that a group called the Chamberlin group focused on the pauses by E. coli RNA polymerase the group also focused on the …show more content…
(2013) describe that RNA polymerase (RNAPs) is a 14-subunit enzyme. According to Murakami (2015) the core of RNA polymerase (RNAPs) in organisms is composed of five subunits that can be found in all three domains of life (Early Research on the Structure of Bacterial RNA Polymerase para. 1). Minakhin et all. (2001) tells us that the main five subunits of RNA polymerase (RNAPs) are ω β ', β , αI and αII. The information for table 1 was found in the article “Requirement for two copies of RNA Polymerase (RNAPs) α subunit C-terminal domain for synergistic transcription activation at complex bacterial promoters.” Table 1 goes into details about how the subunit functions to help RNA Polymerase (RNAPs) during transcription. It also tells us about the gene that encoded it and also the number of catalytic sites that it …show more content…
According to many scientists the main and most important function of RNA Polymerase (RNAPs) is transcription. So, what is transcription? Transcription is the construction of RNA chains using genes from DNA as templates. Since transcription is the process where the information from a strand of DNA is copied into a new molecule everything must work together. Griffiths et all. (2002) says that two strands of the double helix of DNA separate and one acts as a temple. They also stated that A pairs with T while and G with C in DNA. However, in RNA A pairs with U and G with C. Since RNA Polymerase (RNAPs) can be found in archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes there are many different ways to look at what is happening. According to Jun et all. (2012) “The recently-solved X-ray crystal structures of archaeal RNA polymerase (RNAP) allow a structural comparison of the transcription machinery among all three domains of life” (abstract). When it comes to bacteria Yun et all. (2015) states that transcription by RNA polymerase (RNAP) in bacteria requires specific recognition by σ factors (p. 882). Griffiths et all (2000) says that transcription relies on the pairing of the nitrogenous bases of DNA. Figure 2 provided by Griffiths et all. (2000) shows this process in