• 14 parts
  • Checked September 2026

Transcription Labeled Diagram

One gene halfway through transcription, with every part named.

Transcription Labeled Diagram

Name Date

Tap any part to read, rename or leave it out

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
More options

Write the name of each numbered part.Answer key

  1. RNA polymerase
  2. Promoter
  3. Template strand
  4. Coding strand
  5. RNA transcript (mRNA)
  6. Terminator
  7. Transcription bubble
  8. Transcription start site
  9. DNA–RNA hybrid
  10. 3′ end of the RNA
  11. 5′ end of the RNA
  12. RNA nucleotide
  13. Direction of transcription
  14. DNA double helix

Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a part is answered.

Next step Next: translation, where the mRNA is read

All 14 parts on the diagram

Show the list

On the DNA 6

  1. Promoter A stretch of DNA just upstream of the gene. RNA polymerase binds here to begin transcription.
  2. Template strand The DNA strand the enzyme reads. The RNA is built to pair with it, base by base. It is also called the noncoding strand.
  3. Coding strand The DNA strand that is not read. Its sequence is the same as the new RNA, with thymine where the RNA has uracil.
  4. Terminator A sequence at the end of the gene. Once it has been transcribed the RNA is released and transcription stops.
  5. Transcription start site Where the first RNA nucleotide is laid down, just after the promoter. It is drawn here as a bent arrow.
  6. DNA double helix Outside the bubble the two strands stay wound as a double helix. Only the stretch inside the enzyme is open.

Enzyme and bubble 3

  1. RNA polymerase The enzyme that does the work. It unwinds the DNA, reads the template strand and joins RNA nucleotides into a chain.
  2. Transcription bubble The short stretch where the two DNA strands are unwound and apart. It lets the enzyme reach the template strand.
  3. Direction of transcription The enzyme moves away from the promoter and toward the terminator. It runs along the template strand from its 3′ end toward its 5′ end.

The new RNA 5

  1. RNA transcript (mRNA) The new single-stranded RNA copy of the gene. When the gene codes for a protein it is messenger RNA, mRNA.
  2. DNA–RNA hybrid Where the newest stretch of RNA still pairs with the template strand. Farther back the RNA peels away.
  3. 3′ end of the RNA The growing end. Each new nucleotide is added here.
  4. 5′ end of the RNA The end that was made first. RNA is built from its 5′ end toward its 3′ end.
  5. RNA nucleotide A loose building block of RNA. The enzyme adds whichever one pairs with the next base of the template. RNA uses uracil where DNA has thymine.

How this list was compiled: Every name was checked on 2026-09-30 in two places, for facts only and with nothing copied. (1) Nature Education, Scitable: S. Clancy, DNA Transcription (2008), https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/dna-transcription-426/. (2) Wikipedia, text only: Transcription (biology), Coding strand, Transcription bubble, Terminator (genetics) and Promoter (genetics), for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcription_(biology). (3) US National Human Genome Research Institute, Talking Glossary: Transcription, Promoter and Messenger RNA, https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Transcription. (4) For the transcription bubble and the start site, a journal abstract read through Europe PMC, https://europepmc.org/article/MED/38170755. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This transcription labeled diagram catches RNA polymerase halfway along a gene. Tap a name to read what the part does, then press Quiz me to test yourself.

Read the full guide

Read it from left to right

RNA polymerase bound at the promoter and began at the start site. Now it moves along the gene inside a bubble of unwound DNA, adding RNA nucleotides to the 3′ end of the transcript. At the terminator the RNA is released.

Template strand or coding strand?

The enzyme reads the template strand, so the RNA pairs with it. The coding strand is the other one: it has the same sequence as the RNA, with thymine where the RNA has uracil.

  • The new RNA touches only the template strand. That is the quickest way to tell the two DNA strands apart.
  • mRNA is accepted for RNA transcript, and noncoding strand for template strand.

Questions and answers

What are the three stages of transcription?

Initiation, elongation and termination. RNA polymerase binds at the promoter and opens the DNA, builds the RNA along the template strand, then releases it at the terminator.

What does RNA polymerase do in transcription?

It unwinds a short stretch of DNA, reads the template strand and joins RNA nucleotides into a strand that pairs with it.

Which DNA strand is transcribed?

The template strand, also called the noncoding strand. The RNA made from it has the same sequence as the other strand, the coding strand, with uracil in place of thymine.

In which direction is RNA made?

From its 5′ end to its 3′ end. Each new nucleotide is added to the 3′ end, while the enzyme moves along the template strand from 3′ to 5′.

More quizzes

Show 8 more

Browse Science Quizzes