| Prokaryotic transcription | Eukaryotic transcription | |
| (a) | Transcriptional unit has only one gene | Transcriptional unit has one or more genes |
| (b) | Occurs in the cytoplasm | Occurs in the nucleus |
| (c) | A single RNA polymerase synthesises all the three types of RNA | The RNA polymerase I, II and III synthesise rRNA, mRNA and tRNA respectively |
| (d) | Coupled-transcription translation is the rule | Coupled transcription translation is notpossible |