Transcription and translation.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the current state of the knowledge of transcription and translation in Caenorhabditis elegans. Transcription in eukaryotes is accomplished by three RNA polymerases, each transcribing a particular type of RNA; RNA polymerase I transcribes ribosomal RNA, RNA polymerase II transcribes mRNAs and snRNAs, and RNA polymerase III transcribes tRNAs and other low-molecular-weight RNAs. The chapter focuses on RNA polymerase II transcription. The C. elegans gene for the large subunit of RNA polymerase II has been cloned, and has shown to encode a protein that resembles its vertebrate counterparts. For most polymerase II transcribed genes in C. elegans, a sequence fitting the consensus TATA element about 30 bp upstream of the transcriptional start site is found. Recently, a cDNA encoding the TATA box binding protein, or TATA binding protein (TBP) subunit of transcription factor II D (TFIID), has been identified in the nematode. This protein shows extended regions of sequence similarity to vertebrate TBP, binds to a TATA box sequence and can substitute for vertebrate TFIID basal activity in in vitro extracts. These results illustrate a high degree of evolutionary conservation in the basic transcription machinery.

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