coding strand

When referring to DNA transcription, the coding strand is the DNA strand which has the same base sequence as the RNA transcript produced (although with thymine replaced by uracil). It is this strand which contains codons, while the non-coding strand contains anti-codons. During transcription, RNA Pol II binds the non-coding strand, reads the anti-codons, and transcribes their sequence to synthesize an RNA transcript with complementary bases. By convention, the coding strand is the strand used when displaying a DNA sequence. It is presented in the 5' to 3' direction.