<P> By convention, the coding strand is the strand used when displaying a DNA sequence . It is presented in the 5' to 3' direction . </P> <P> Wherever a gene exists on a DNA molecule, one strand is the coding strand (or sense strand), and the other is the noncoding strand (also called the antisense strand, anticoding strand, template strand or transcribed strand). </P> <P> During transcription, RNA polymerase unwinds a short section of the DNA double helix near the start of the gene (the transcription start site). This unwound section is known as the transcription bubble . The RNA polymerase, and with it the transcription bubble, travels along the noncoding strand in the opposite, 3' to 5', direction, as well as polymerizing a newly synthesized strand in 5' to 3' or downstream direction . The DNA double helix is rewound by RNA polymerase at the rear of the transcription bubble . Like how two adjacent zippers work, when pulled together, they unzip and rezip as they proceed in a particular direction . Various factors can cause double - stranded DNA to break; thus, reorder genes or cause cell death . </P> <P> Where the helix is unwound, the coding strand consists of unpaired bases, while the template strand consists of an RNA: DNA composite, followed by a number of unpaired bases at the rear . This hybrid consists of the most recently added nucleotides of the RNA transcript, complementary base - paired to the template strand . The number of base - pairs in the hybrid is under investigation, but it has been suggested that the hybrid is formed from the last 10 nucleotides added . </P>

The strand of dna that gets transcribed to mrna is called the