Definition
RNA polymerase is an enzyme which catalyzes the addition of a ribonucleoside triphosphate to the 3′ – end of a RNA strand using a template. The systematic name of this enzymatic activity is nucleoside triphosphate-RNA nucleotidyltransferase, and the catalyzed reaction can be represented as
DNA-directed RNA polymerases (EC 2.7.7.6) use DNA templates, whereas RNA-directed RNA polymerases (EC 2.7.7.48) use RNA templates. These enzymes can initiate a chain de novo. In eukaryotes different RNA polymerases participate in the transcription of the diverse types of RNA. In prokaryotes, a multimeric RNA polymerase performs the transcription of the different classes of RNA.
History
Sam Weiss, Audrey Stevens, and Jerard Hurwitz discovered independently the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase activity in 1960.
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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Peretó, J. (2014). RNA Polymerase. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5177-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_5177-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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