This document summarizes prokaryotic transcription. It describes that transcription involves RNA polymerase adding RNA nucleotides to a DNA template, similar to DNA replication but producing RNA. RNA polymerase requires a sigma factor to bind promoter regions containing -10 and -35 sequences. Transcription then proceeds through initiation, elongation, and termination stages. Initiation involves formation of open and closed complexes. Termination can be rho-independent using hairpin structures or rho-dependent using rho protein binding.