The sessility of plant needs to evolve sophisticated mechanisms for responding in an integrated and balanced manner to environmental cues by precisely regulating transcription output. The core enzyme of transcription machinery that transcribe mRNA from protein-encoding genes is RNA polymerase II (Pol II). By interacting with accessory factors, the transcribing behaviors of Pol II were dynamically regulated in a series of distinct steps: initiation, elongation, and termination. Emerging evidence points to the pausing of Pol II during early elongation as a widespread regulatory mechanism in higher eukaryotes. Whether and how the transition from initiation to elongation is regulated in plant? How the precise modulation of transcription is maintained with the help of various transcription factors under the changing environment? Our research will try to address those questions from the following angles:

　　1.    Decoding the components of initiation and elongation complexes and examining the mechanisms of transition

　　2.    Illustrating the mutual regulations between transcription and its coupling events such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, and RNA processing

　　3.    The responses of transcription (transcription machinery and coupled events) to various stress.