Template strand

- One of the two DNA strands, the template strand, provides a template for ordering the sequence of complementary nucleotides in an mRNA transcript​ - The template strand is always the same strand for a given gene​ - However, further along the chromosome, the opposite strand may be the template strand for a different gene​ - Specific DNA sequences associated with the gene direct which strand is used as the template​ - The mRNA molecule produced is complementary to the template strand​ - During translation, the mRNA base triplets, called codons, are read in the 5′ → 3′ direction​