Biotechnology Intelligence Unit

1 total work

Transcription of Ribosomal RNA Genes by Eukaryotic RNA Polymerase I

Published 29 June 1998

The mechanism by which ribosomal RNA is synthesized has been a topic of intensive research for many years. In 1981 the first in-vitro transcription system for ribosomal RNA from a eukaryote - mouse ascites cells - was reported, followed rapidly by similar systems in a variey of other eukaryotes, all revealed by a relatively small number of research groups. This monograph brings together the results and opinions of all these groups. Though it emphasizes the common features of ribosomal RNA transcription between species, the species specificity of the process and nucleolar dominance and its possible mechanisms are also discussed.