AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -For each nucleotide in the template, RNA polymerase adds a matching (complementary) RNA nucleotide to the 3’ end of the RNA strand. RNA polymerase synthesizes an RNA transcript complementary to the DNA template strand in the 5’ to 3’ direction.

Detailed explanation-2: -The RNA polymerase moves stepwise along the DNA, unwinding the DNA helix just ahead of the active site for polymerization to expose a new region of the template strand for complementary base-pairing.

Detailed explanation-3: -Strand elongation By virtue of complementary base-pairing, this action creates a new strand of mRNA that is organized in the 5’ to 3’ direction. As the RNA polymerase continues down the strand of DNA, more nucleotides are added to the mRNA, thereby forming a progressively longer chain of nucleotides (Figure 2).

Detailed explanation-4: -RNA polymerase synthesizes an RNA strand complementary to a template DNA strand. It synthesizes the RNA strand in the 5’ to 3’ direction, while reading the template DNA strand in the 3’ to 5’ direction. The template DNA strand and RNA strand are antiparallel.