The TATA box is located on which DNA strand?

The TATA box is located on which DNA strand?

• A. Template strand
• B. Non-template (coding) strand
• C. RNA
• D. Promoter region

Answer: (B)

Promoter elements set the starting point and direction for transcription. The TATA box is a DNA sequence in the promoter that helps recruit transcription machinery to start transcription. It is located upstream of the transcription start site on the strand that will serve as the gene’s coding sequence—the non-template, or coding, strand. Since RNA polymerase reads the template strand to synthesize RNA, the mRNA sequence corresponds to the coding strand (with T replaced by U). So, the TATA box is described as residing on the coding strand. The RNA product itself is not the TATA box; the TATA box remains a DNA motif in the promoter.

Promoter elements set the starting point and direction for transcription. The TATA box is a DNA sequence in the promoter that helps recruit transcription machinery to start transcription. It is located upstream of the transcription start site on the strand that will serve as the gene’s coding sequence—the non-template, or coding, strand. Since RNA polymerase reads the template strand to synthesize RNA, the mRNA sequence corresponds to the coding strand (with T replaced by U). So, the TATA box is described as residing on the coding strand. The RNA product itself is not the TATA box; the TATA box remains a DNA motif in the promoter.