Protein Synthesis in Plants

Protein synthesis in a plant cell unfolds in two clearly separated major stages: transcription, in which the genetic information encoded in a gene's DNA sequence is copied into a messenger RNA molecule, and translation, in which that messenger RNA sequence is decoded into the corresponding sequence of amino acids making up a polypeptide chain. Between these two stages, the newly made RNA transcript is extensively processed while still inside the nucleus (capped, spliced and given a poly(A) tail) before being exported through the nuclear pores into the cytoplasm, where it finally reaches the ribosomes and is translated into protein -- so in a eukaryotic plant cell, transcription and translation are physically separated from one anot …