CDK9 inhibition in human cells uncovers that Pol II pause duration regulates the frequency of productive transcription initiation.

The first zygotic genes are transcribed without RNA polymerase II pausing from a TATA-enriched promoter.

The elongation rate of RNA Polymerase II varies greatly between and along genes, as this enzyme accelerates from stable pausing to rapid elongation within genes, and is influenced by CG-content, exons and chromatin.

Reporter-ChIP-nexus captures paused Pol II on transfected plasmids and shows that pausing stability is influenced by core promoter sequences, especially by the initiator with a G at +2 position.

C. elegans equalizes the expression of X-chromosome genes between the sexes by reducing the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to promoters of X-linked genes in hermaphrodites, using a chromosome-restructuring complex called condensin.

The phosphorylation of tyrosine in the heptad repeat of the C-terminal domain of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II promotes Ser2 phosphorylation by P-TEFb for pausing release.

The structural architecture of the 4-subunit, RNA-binding human negative elongation factor NELF is derived by a combination of X-ray crystallography and protein crosslinking.

The ATP-dependent chromatin remodeler Chd1 controls nucleosome turnover to allow RNA Polymerase to transcribe in vivo.

Natural genetic variation reveals how DNA sequence impacts core transcriptional processes of initiation, pause, and termination.

Phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA Polymerase II controls nucleosomes dynamics at specific promoters to regulate transcription.