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. 2019 May 27;20(10):2595. doi: 10.3390/ijms20102595

Figure 1.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of transcription polarity, premature transcription termination on long intervening nascent RNA, and synchronization of transcription and translation rates. (a) Transcription polarity is caused by a premature stop codon (STOP sign) on the nascent RNA (nRNA, in red). Translation of the nascent RNA will terminate and the ribosome (in yellow and blue, for small and large ribosomal subunits, respectively) will prematurely dissociate from the nascent RNA. This allows the Rho transcription termination factor (in purple) to reach the RNA polymerase (RNAP, in green) and induce premature transcription termination. (b) A long intervening nascent RNA allows the Rho factor to bind ahead of the ribosome or allow the intrinsic transcription terminator to fold (hairpin structure indicated with a red capital T). In both instances, transcription terminates. (c) Synchronization of transcription rate to translation rate. The running ahead of the RNAP will cause the polymerase to pause and backtrack (complex on the left). The translating ribosome will push the RNAP forward and reactivate its transcription activity (complex on the right). This running ahead and pausing to wait for the ribosome synchronizes the transcription rate to the translation rate.