Introduction:

• Prokaryotic transcription is the process of converting genetic information from DNA to RNA.
• The RNA molecule produced in transcription contains the information necessary to make a protein.
• Transcription is carried out by the enzyme RNA polymerase.

Promoter recognition and binding:

• RNA polymerase recognizes and binds to a specific DNA sequence called the promoter.
• The promoter is a region of DNA that contains a consensus sequence to which the RNA polymerase binds and initiates transcription.
• Promoters typically contain a -35 and -10 sequence which is recognized by the RNA polymerase.
• The RNA polymerase recognizes the promoter by the help of sigma factor.

Initiation:

• Once the RNA polymerase binds to the promoter, it initiates transcription by unwinding a small section of the DNA double helix.
• This creates a transcription bubble, which allows the RNA polymerase to access the template strand of DNA.

Elongation:

• The RNA polymerase then moves along the template strand of DNA, adding nucleotides to the growing RNA strand.
• RNA polymerase reads the DNA sequence in the 3′ to 5′ direction and synthesizes a complementary RNA molecule in the 5′ to 3′ direction.
• RNA polymerase uses the template strand of DNA as a guide to add the correct nucleotides to the growing RNA strand.

Termination:

• Transcription is terminated when the RNA polymerase reaches a terminator sequence, which signals the end of a gene.
• The RNA polymerase recognizes the terminator sequence and releases the newly synthesized RNA molecule.
• Termination can be divided into two types: Rho-dependent termination and intrinsic termination.

In summary, Prokaryotic transcription is the process of converting genetic information from DNA to RNA. This process is mediated by the enzyme RNA polymerase. The process includes promoter recognition and binding, initiation, elongation, and termination. The RNA polymerase recognizes the promoter by the help of sigma factor and unwinds a small section of the DNA double helix. Then reads the DNA sequence in the 3′ to 5′ direction and synthesizes a complementary RNA molecule in the 5′ to 3′ direction. Then it terminates the transcription upon reaching a terminator sequence, releasing the newly synthesized RNA molecule.