Question

All the RNA polymerases share 5 common subunits, which are present in all the three polymerases and are all alike. State whether the statement is true or false.

(a) True

(b) False

I have been asked this question during an interview for a job.

My enquiry is from Transcription in Eukaryotes : RNA Polymerases in portion Gene Expression : Transcription Prokaryotes of Cytogenetics

Answer 1

Right option is (b) False

Explanation: Although these 5 subunits are common to all the RNA polymerases yet they share some subtle differences- the CTD of the beta prime subunit of pol II has heptad repeat. Also the alpha subunits in RNA pol II are quite different from that of pol I and III.