Defining Plus and Minus Strand - (Feb/28/2005 )

I have a few basic questions to ask.

1. In transcription, plus strand equals to the non-template strand while minus strand refers to the template strand?

2. Promoter is at the 5'end of a gene. Which strand does this refer to? 5'end of a plus strand or a minus strand?

Thx!!

hi

some definitions...
the strand that is transcribed in RNA is the antisense strand, also called the minus strand.
the on transcribed strand of the DNA (sequence differs from rna's one simply T/U) is the plus strand of the DNA.

When it is said that promoter is at the 5' end of the gene, it's on the plus strand.


minus strand-----> 3' AATGTCCAGTCGAAT
plus strand-------> 5' TTAGAGGTCAGCTTA 3'

mRNA -> 5' UUACAGG...


fred