How does Rho in bacteria function similarly to Xrn2 in eukaryotes to terminate transcription? The Role of Rho and Xrn2 in Transcription Termination

Transcription Termination: The Role of Rho & Xrn2 

Both Xrn2 and Rho are molecular proteins with similar roles in terminating transcription in bacteria, and eukaryotes. In bacteria, Rho is an essential transcription termination factor that binds the nascent RNA transcript and helps cleave the phosphodiester bond between the 3’ end of the RNA and the DNA template strand (Kuzmin & Börner, 2016). This process, known as Rho-dependent transcription termination, requires the presence of specific sites in the RNA transcript, known as rho-utilization sites (RUTs) (Kuzmin & Börner, 2016). Recognizing these RUTs allows Rho to accurately and efficiently terminate transcription at the appropriate site. Similarly, Xrn2 is a eukaryotic transcription termination factor that is responsible for cleaving the 5’ end of the RNA transcript, thereby releasing the RNA from the DNA template strand (Ladurner et al., 2017). Xrn2 is similar to Rho. It recognizes certain sites within the RNA transcript and binds there to activate cleavage (Ladurner et. al., 2017,). While Xrn2 is different from Rho in terms of their modes of action they perform the same function. Cont…