What do they mean in parts a and b ?

the sugar-phosphate backbone forms the structural framework of nucleic acids, including dna and rna. this backbone is composed of alternating sugar and phosphate groups, and defines directionality of the molecule.

the generally accepted parts of modern cell theory include: all known living things are made up of one or more cells. all living cells arise from pre-existing cells by division. the cell is the fundamental unit of structure and function in all living organisms.

step 1: initiation

initiation is the beginning of transcription. it occurs when the enzyme rna polymerase binds to a region of a gene called the promoter. this signals the dna to unwind so the enzyme can ‘‘read’’ the bases in one of the dna strands. the enzyme is now ready to make a strand of mrna with a complementary sequence of bases.

step 2: elongation

elongation is the addition of nucleotides to the mrna strand. rna polymerase reads the unwound dna strand and builds the mrna molecule, using complementary base pairs. there is a brief time during this process when the newly formed rna is bound to the unwound dna. during this process, an adenine (a) in the dna binds to an uracil (u) in the rna.

step 3: termination

termination is the ending of transcription, and occurs when rna polymerase crosses a stop (termination) sequence in the gene. the mrna strand is complete, and it detaches from dna.