Florida Biology EOC Practice Test

What does free-floating nucleotides bond to during transcription?

1. Both DNA strands

2. One side of the DNA molecule

3. The RNA strand

4. The ribosome

The correct answer is: Both DNA strands

During transcription, free-floating nucleotides bond specifically to one side of the DNA molecule, which serves as the template strand. This process involves RNA polymerase reading the DNA sequence and synthesizing a complementary RNA strand by linking nucleotides together. The RNA strand is formed by pairing each nucleotide with its complementary base on the DNA template, which means that the correct answer focuses on the interaction between the free nucleotides and the individual DNA strand being transcribed. Option A, suggesting that nucleotides bond to both DNA strands, is not accurate because only one strand of DNA is transcribed into RNA at a time. The other options either reference components that do not participate in the bonding during transcription or misinterpret the selective nature of the process. This understanding emphasizes the precision of transcription where a single strand of DNA is transcribed into RNA rather than interactions involving both strands or the ribosome.