Multicistronic message is an archaic term for
Polycistronic
A cistron is an alternative term for "gene". The word cistron is used to emphasize that genes exhibit a specific behavior in a cis-trans test; distinct positions (or loci) within a genome are cistronic.
History
The words ''cistron'' and ''gene ...
. Monocistronic, bicistronic and tricistronic are also used to describe mRNA with single, double and triple coding areas (exons).
Note that the base word ''cistron'' is no longer used in genetics, and has been replaced by
intron
An intron is any nucleotide sequence within a gene that is not expressed or operative in the final RNA product. The word ''intron'' is derived from the term ''intragenic region'', i.e. a region inside a gene."The notion of the cistron .e., gene. ...
and
exon
An exon is any part of a gene that will form a part of the final mature RNA produced by that gene after introns have been removed by RNA splicing. The term ''exon'' refers to both the DNA sequence within a gene and to the corresponding sequen ...
in eukaryotic mRNA. However, the mRNA found in bacteria is mainly polycistronic. This means that a single bacterial mRNA strand can be translated into several different proteins. This will occur if spacers separate the different proteins, and each spacer has to have a
Shine-Dalgarno sequence located upstream of the start
codon
The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...
.
RNA
{{genetics-stub