A researcher introduced many copies of a double-stranded RNA into a culture of mammalian cells and used a fluorescent probe to follow it. She found that the introduced strands separated; one strand degraded and the other single-stranded RNA remained. The remaining strand is able to do which of the following?
A) attach to histones in the chromatin
B) bind to complementary regions of target mRNAs
C) activate other siRNAs in the cell
D) act as a template for transcription

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The remaining single-stranded RNA can bind to complementary regions of target mRNAs, a process central to RNA interference (RNAi) mechanisms, where it can lead to the degradation or inhibition of the target mRNA, thus regulating gene expression.

A Researcher Introduced Many Copies of a Double-Stranded RNA into a Culture