Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 1991 May;5(5):999-1004.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb01872.x.

The role of RNA polymerase in transcriptional fidelity

Affiliations
Review

The role of RNA polymerase in transcriptional fidelity

R T Libby et al. Mol Microbiol. 1991 May.

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources