Which is True About Prokaryotic (Bacterial) RNA Polymerase

Question

Which is true about prokaryotic (bacterial) RNA polymerase?
A) It is used during transcription.
B) It requires a primer.
C) It has a detachable subunit, alpha factor, which recognizes the promoter.
D) It reads the template in the 5'-3' direction.
E) All of the choices are true.

Accepted Answer

Prokaryotic RNA polymerase is used during transcription to synthesize RNA from a DNA template. It does not require a primer, and the detachable subunit that recognizes the promoter is the sigma factor, not the alpha factor. Additionally, RNA polymerase reads the template in the 3'-5' direction to synthesize RNA in the 5'-3' direction.