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Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Transcriptome Analysis of Single Cells
Published on: April 25, 2011
Survey and summary: transcription by RNA polymerases I and III
1Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. mpaule@lamar.colostate.edu
Abstract:
The task of transcribing nuclear genes is shared between three RNA polymerases in eukaryotes: RNA polymerase (pol) I synthesizes the large rRNA, pol II synthesizes mRNA and pol III synthesizes tRNA and 5S rRNA. Although pol II has received most attention, pol I and pol III are together responsible for the bulk of transcriptional activity. This survey will summarise what is known about the process of transcription by pol I and pol III, how it happens and the proteins involved. Attention will be drawn to the similarities between the three nuclear RNA polymerase systems and also to their differences.
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