Transcription in a eukaryotic cell occurs in the nucleus. This is where the DNA is located and where the process of copying DNA into RNA takes place. Specifically:
- The DNA is packaged into chromatin within the nucleus, and transcription is initiated when RNA polymerase and transcription factors bind to the promoter regions of genes there
- Eukaryotic cells have three RNA polymerases located in the nucleus: RNA polymerase I (in the nucleolus, transcribing rRNA), RNA polymerase II (in the nucleoplasm, transcribing mRNA and some small RNAs), and RNA polymerase III (also in the nucleoplasm, transcribing tRNA and other small RNAs)
- After transcription, the newly synthesized mRNA is processed and then transported out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm for translation into proteins
In summary, transcription occurs inside the nucleus of eukaryotic cells before the RNA transcript is exported to the cytoplasm for protein synthesis
