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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Isolation of Fidelity Variants of RNA Viruses and Characterization of Virus Mutation Frequency
Published on: June 16, 2011
The role of RNA polymerase in transcriptional fidelity
1Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
Abstract:
The overall transcription of DNA has previously been demonstrated to proceed at extremely high levels of accuracy. We review the evidence that the process of transcription is subject to proof-reading in the Hopfield sense. In addition, we speculate that the proof-reading activity associated with transcription is subject to cyclical phase transitions. That is, during periods of low processivity associated with initiation, RNA synthesis is relatively imprecise. The transition to the elongation phase of RNA synthesis, characterized by a shift to high processivity, is accompanied by enhanced proof-reading. A model for the damping of transcriptional errors, based on a PPi-mediated processive pyrophosphorolysis reaction, is discussed in terms of pausing during transcription.
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