[Campbell Biology P.391] Which of the following statements accurately describes RNA polymera... | Practice Question

Which of the following statements accurately describes RNA polymerase based on the provided text?

  • A: RNA polymerase adds nucleotides in the 3' → 5' direction and requires a pre-existing primer.
  • B: Bacteria possess multiple types of RNA polymerases, similar to eukaryotes.
  • C: RNA polymerase unwinds the DNA helix and synthesizes an RNA strand complementary to the template strand.
  • D: In eukaryotes, RNA polymerase I is primarily responsible for pre-mRNA synthesis.

Explanation

The text states that an enzyme called RNA polymerase pries the two strands of DNA apart and joins together RNA nucleotides complementary to the DNA template strand, thus elongating the RNA polynucleotide. It also mentions that RNA polymerases can assemble a polynucleotide only in its 5' → 3' direction.