Unlock Exclusive Discounts & Flash Sales! Click Here to Join the Deals on Every Wednesday!
In prokaryotes, the selection of the start codon depends on the interaction between the small subunit of the ribosome and the mRNA template. The 30S subunit binds to a purine-rich mRNA template immediately upstream of the correct start codon. This region is called the SD sequence (Shine-Dalgarno sequence), which complements a pyrimidine-rich region at the 3' end of 16S rRNA. During initiation complex formation, these complementary nucleotides pair to form double-stranded RNA structures that allow mRNA to bind to the ribosome, resulting in initiation codon localization at the P site of the ribosome.