A
primary transcript is the single-stranded ribonucleic acid (
RNA) product synthesized by transcription of
DNA, and processed to yield various mature RNA products such as
mRNAs,
tRNAs, and
rRNAs. The primary transcripts designated to be mRNAs are modified in preparation for
translation. For example, a precursor messenger RNA (
pre-mRNA) is a type of primary transcript that becomes a messenger RNA (mRNA) after
processing.