Virology Lectures 2020 #7: Transcription and RNA Processing

When DNA viral genomes enter the cell, the first biosynthetic step is transcription, which can only occur on double-stranded templates. In this lecture, we discuss DNA dependent RNA polymerase, regulation of transcription by viral proteins, positive feedback loops and transcriptional cascades, and RNA processing, the addition of 5’-cap, poly(A) tail, splicing, noncoding RNAs and RNA methylation.