Related topics: dna · genes · protein · gene expression · cells

Bacterial RNAs have shorter lifetimes than expected

The decay of ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a crucial mechanism for controlling gene expression in response to environmental stresses. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität ...

New insights on the transcriptional regulation of seed germination

Seeds remain in a dormant state, waiting for the right environmental conditions to germinate, thus increasing the probability of fragile seedling survival. The transition from a dry seed to a vegetative seedling is an irreversible ...

Did the first cells evolve in soda lakes?

Soda lakes, which are dominated by dissolved sodium and carbonate species, could have provided the right conditions for the first cells, according to a new study published in PNAS Nexus.

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RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biologically important type of molecule that consists of a long chain of nucleotide units. Each nucleotide consists of a nitrogenous base, a ribose sugar, and a phosphate. RNA is very similar to DNA, but differs in a few important structural details: in the cell, RNA is usually single-stranded, while DNA is usually double-stranded; RNA nucleotides contain ribose while DNA contains deoxyribose (a type of ribose that lacks one oxygen atom); and RNA has the base uracil rather than thymine that is present in DNA.

RNA is transcribed from DNA by enzymes called RNA polymerases and is generally further processed by other enzymes. RNA is central to the synthesis of proteins. Here, a type of RNA called messenger RNA carries information from DNA to structures called ribosomes. These ribosomes are made from proteins and ribosomal RNAs, which come together to form a molecular machine that can read messenger RNAs and translate the information they carry into proteins. There are many RNAs with other roles – in particular regulating which genes are expressed, but also as the genomes of most viruses.

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