The impact of transcription on posttranscriptional processes in yeast

• Transcription by each of the yeast RNA polymerases has numerous unique features.
• Transcription elongation kinetics affects cotranscriptional pre-RNA processing.
• Transcription efficiency affects processing, export and decay of transcripts.
• Increased transcription may result in saturation of RNA-interacting proteins.

In eukaryotes, three RNA polymerases are responsible for transcription. These complex enzymes show many similarities with one another, such as several common or highly homologue subunits, while some other features, such as transcript length, diversity, processing, and transcription regulation, are unique to each polymerase. The present article reviews recent publications focusing on the impact of transcription of various RNA species in yeast on posttranscriptional steps such as pre-RNA processing, transport and decay. Two major conclusions emerge from a critical analysis of the current knowledge. (1) The kinetics of transcription elongation affects cotranscriptional pre-RNA processing. (2) The efficiency of transcription, by saturating the proteins interacting with RNA, indirectly affects the processing, export and decay of transcripts.