Lecture, four hours. Requisite: course 153B. RNA polymerase structures and mechanisms; promoter recognition and transcription cycle; mechanisms of activation; transcriptional poising and elongation control; Mediator of transcription; chromatin remodeling and modification; epigenetic regulation; cotranscriptional and transcription-coupled RNA processing; impact of transcription on mRNA processing and stability; nuclear export of mRNA. Concurrently scheduled with course CM259. P/NP or letter grading.