transcription and translation in prokaryotes. Eukaryotes Ribosomal protein synthesis in eukaryotes is a major metabolic activity. It occurs, like most protein synthesis, in the cytoplasm just outside the nucleus. Individual ribosomal proteins are synthesized and imported into the nucleus through nuclear pores. See nuclear import for more about the movement of the ribosomal proteins into the nucleus. The DNA is transcribed, at a high speed, in the nucleolus, which contains all 45S rRNA genes. The only exception is the 5S rRNA which is transcribed outside the nucleolus. After transcription, the rRNAs associate with the ribosomal proteins, forming the two types of ribosomal subunits (large and small). These will later assemble in the cytosol to make a functioning ribosome. See nuclear export for more about the movement of the ribosomal subunits out of the nucleus. Processing Eukaryotic cells co-transcribe three of the mature rRNA species through a series of steps. The maturation process of the rRNAs and the process of recruiting the r-proteins happen in precursor ribosomal particles, sometimes called pre-ribosomes, and takes place in the nucleolus, nucleoplasm, and cytoplasm. The yeast, S. cerevisiae is the eukaryotic model organism for the study of ribosome biogenesis. Ribosome biogenesis starts in the nucleolus. There, the 18S, 5.8S, and 25S subunits of the rRNA are cotranscribed from ribosomal genes as a polycistronic transcript by RNA polymerase I, and is called 35S pre-RNA. Transcription of polymerase I starts with a Pol I initiation complex that binds to the rDNA promoter. The formation of this complex requires the help of an upstream activating factor or UAF that associates with TATA-box binding protein and the core factor (CF). Together the two transcription factors allow the RNA pol I complex to bind with the polymerase I initiation factor, Rrn3. As the pol I transcript is produced, approximately 75 small nucleolar ribonucleoparticles (snoRNPs) facilitate the co-transcriptional covalent modifications of >100 rRNA residues. These snoRNPs control 2’-O-ribose methylation of nucleotides and also assist in the creation of pseudouridines. At the 5’ end of rRNA transcripts, small subunit ribosomal proteins (Rps) and non-ribosomal factors assemble with the pre-RNA transcripts to create ball-like knobs. These knobs are the first pre-ribosomal particles in the small (40S) ribosomal subunit pathway. The rRNA transcript is cleaved at the A2 site, and this separates the early 40S pre-ribosome from the remaining pre-rRNA that will combine with large subunit ribosomal proteins (Rpl) and other non-ribosomal factors to