What modification occurs to eukaryotic mRNA before it is translated?
Practice Questions
Q1
What modification occurs to eukaryotic mRNA before it is translated?
Addition of a poly-A tail
Removal of exons
Addition of a 5' phosphate
Conversion to tRNA
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What modification occurs to eukaryotic mRNA before it is translated?
Step 1: After a gene is transcribed from DNA to mRNA, the mRNA is still in a raw form.
Step 2: The first modification is the addition of a 5' cap to the beginning of the mRNA. This helps protect the mRNA and assists in translation.
Step 3: The second modification is the addition of a poly-A tail, which is a string of adenine nucleotides added to the 3' end of the mRNA. This also helps protect the mRNA and aids in its stability.
Step 4: The mRNA may also undergo splicing, where non-coding regions (introns) are removed, and coding regions (exons) are joined together.
