Question

Compare the activities of E. coli DNA polymerase III and RNA polymerase by describing the following properties of each:

	DNAP III (Replication)	RNAP (Transcription)
Substrate(s) i.e. what does the enzyme link together
Name for the site of enzyme binding
Is a primer required? What serves as template(s)?
End product
Direction of polymerization

Answer 1

The complete table is as follows :-

	DNAP III (Replication	RNAP (Transcription)
Substrate(s) i.e. what does the enzyme link together	This enzyme links together deoxyribonucleotides.	This enzyme links together ribonucleotides.
Name for the site of enzyme binding	DNA polymerase III binds to the primer and adds nucleotides to the 3' end of the primer using the parent strand as the template.	RNA polymerase binds to regions of DNA called promoter, which are “start” signals for transcription
Is a primer required? What serves as template(s)?	Yes, a primer is required. Each strand of DNA serves as a template for the synthesis of a new complementary strand.	No, primer is not required. The antisense strand of DNA serves as the template for RNA transcription.
End product	The end product is always DNA.	The end product is always mRNA.
Direction of polymerisation	The polymerisation happens in the 5' to 3' direction.	The polymerisation happens in the 5' to 3' direction.