Post transcriptional modification: Post-transcriptional modification is a process in cell biology by which, in eukaryotic cells, primary transcript RNA is converted

into mature RNA. A notable example is the conversion of precursor messenger RNA into mature messenger RNA mRNA!. "he pre-mRNA molecule undergoes three main modifications which occur in the cell nucleus before the RNA is translated. "hese modifications are i. #$capping ii. %$polyadenylation iii. RNA splicing

&ig. 'apping and poly adelilation Addition of #( 'ap and %( Poly A! "ail to )ukaryotic Pre-mRNA!. )ukaryotic mRNAs are modified during transcription by the addition of a cap to the #( end and a poly A! tail to the %( end. i. 5Processing or 5Capping of pre-mRNA At the #( end, a cap is added consisting of a modified *"P guanosine triphosphate!. "his occurs at the beginning of transcription. "he #( cap is used as a recognition signal for ribosomes to bind to the mRNA. 'apping of the pre-mRNA involves the addition of +-methylguanosine m+*! to the #$end. "o achieve this, the terminal #$phosphate re,uires removal, which is done with the aid of a phosphatase en-yme. "he en-yme guanosyl transferase then catalyses the reaction, which produces the diphosphate #$end. "he diphosphate #$prime end then attacks the . phosphorus atom of a *"P molecule in order to add the guanine residue in a #(#$triphosphate link. "he en-yme /-adenosyl methionine then methylates the guanine ring at the N-+ position. "his type of cap, with 0ust the m+*! in position is called a cap 1 structure. "he ribose of the ad0acent nucleotide may also be methylated to give a cap 2. 3ethylation of nucleotides downstream of the RNA molecule produce cap 4, cap % structures and so on. 5n these cases the methyl groups are added to the 4$67 groups of the ribose sugar. "he cap protects the #$end of the primary RNA transcript from attack by ribonucleases that have specificity to the %(#$phosphodiester bonds. ii. 3polyadenylation At the %( end, a poly A! tail of 2#1 or more adenine nucleotides is added. "he tail plays a role in the stability of the mRNA. Polyadenylation is the addition of a poly A! tail to an RNA molecule. "he poly A! tail consists of multiple adenosine monophosphates8 in other words, it is a stretch of RNA which only has Adenine bases. 5n eukaryotes, polyadenylation is part of the process that produces mature messenger RNA mRNA! for translation. 5t therefore forms part of the larger process of gene expression. "he process of polyadenylation begins as the transcription of a gene finishes. "he %(-most segment of the newly-made RNA is first cleaved off by a set of proteins8 these proteins then synthesise the poly A! tail at the RNA(s %$end. "he poly A! tail is important for the nuclear export, translation and stability of mRNA. "he tail is shortened over time and when it is short enough, the mRNA is en-ymatically degraded. 1

7owever, in a few cell types, mRNAs with short poly A! tails are stored for later activation by repolyadenylation in the cytosol. Function: 5n nuclear polyadenylation, a poly A! tail is added to an RNA at the end of transcription. 6n mRNAs, the poly A! tail protects the mRNA molecule from en-ymatic degradation in the cytoplasm and aids in transcription termination, export of the mRNA from the nucleus, and translation. Almost all eukaryotic mRNAs are polyadenylated, with the exception of animal replication-dependent histone mRNAs. "hese are the only mRNAs in eukaryotes that lack a poly A! tail, ending instead in a stem-loop structure followed by a purine-rich se,uence, termed histone downstream element, that directs where the RNA is cut so that the %$end of the histone mRNA is formed. iii. RNA splicing "he se,uence of a eukaryotic protein-coding gene is typically not colinear with the translated mRNA8 that is, the transcript of the gene is a molecule that must be processed to remove extra se,uences introns! before it is translated into the polypeptide.

3ost eukaryotic protein-coding genes contain segments called introns, which break up the amino acid coding se,uence into segments called exons. "he transcript of these genes is the pre-mRNA precursormRNA!. "he pre-mRNA is processed RNA splicing! in the nucleus to remove the introns and splice the exons together into a translatable mRNA. "hat mRNA exits the nucleus and is translated in the cytoplasm.

A typical human protein coding mature processed mRNA:

!ifferent "enes for !ifferent RNAs 2

"here are 9 types of RNA, each encoded by its own type of gene. "he genomic :NA contains all the information for the structure and function of an organism. 5n any cell, only some of the genes are expressed, that is, transcribed into RNA. "here are 9 types of RNA, each encoded by its own type of gene; i. mRNA - 3essenger RNA; )ncodes amino acid se,uence of a polypeptide. ii. tRNA - "ransfer RNA; <rings amino acids to ribosomes during translation. iii. rRNA - Ribosomal RNA; =ith ribosomal proteins, makes up the ribosomes, the organelles that translate the mRNA. iv. snRNA - /mall nuclear RNA; =ith proteins, forms complexes that are used in RNA processing in eukaryotes. Not found in prokaryotes.!

RNA polymerase: "hree types of RNA polymerase transcribe eukaryotic genes. )ach RNA polymerase type recogni-es specific promoter se,uences. )ukaryotic promoters tend to be more complex than prokaryotic promoters. :ifferent sets of "&s are used with each RNA polymerase type. i. ii. iii. RNA polymerase # transcribes the genes for 2>/, #.>/ and 4>/ rRNAs. RNA polymerase ## transcribes protein-coding genes and some snRNA genes. RNA polymerase ### transcribes tRNA genes, #/ rRNA genes, and the remaining snRNA genes.