Archaeal transcription is the process in which a segment of archaeal DNA is copied into a newly synthesized strand of RNA using the sole Pol II-like RNA polymerase (RNAP). The process occurs in three main steps: initiation, elongation, and termination; and the end result is a strand of RNA that is complementary to a single strand of DNA. A number of transcription factors govern this process with homologs in both bacteria and eukaryotes, with the core machinery more similar to eukaryotic transcription.
Because archaea lack a membrane-enclosed nucleus like bacteria do, transcription and translation can happen at the same time on a newly-generated piece of mRNA. Operons are widespread in archaea.