In prokaryotes, the core RNA polymerase enzyme on its own is capable of catalysing which specific step of transcription?

Step-by-step solution

In prokaryotes, the RNA polymerase core enzyme is only capable of catalysing the process of elongation. It must associate transiently with the initiation factor ( ) to initiate transcription and with the termination factor ( ) to terminate the process. Therefore, without these transient factors, the core enzyme can only perform elongation. Answer: Elongation only