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African trypanosomes, such as Trypanosoma brucei, are flagellated protozoa which proliferate in mammals and cause a variety of diseases in people and animals. In a mammalian host, the external face of the African trypanosome plasma membrane is covered by a densely packed coat formed of variant surface glycoprotein (VSG), which counteracts the host's adaptive immune response by antigenic variation. The VSG is attached to the external face of the plasma membrane by covalent attachment of the C-terminus to glycosylphosphatidylinositol. As the trypanosome grows, newly synthesised VSG is added to the plasma membrane by vesicle fusion to the flagellar pocket, the sole location of exo- and endocytosis. Snake venoms contain dozens of components, including proteases and phospholipases A

RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase II and RNA processing are closely coupled during the transcription cycle of protein-coding genes. This coupling affords opportunities for quality control and regulation of gene expression and the effects can go in both directions. For example, polymerase speed can affect splice site selection and splicing can increase transcription and affect the chromatin landscape. Here we review the many ways that transcription and splicing influence one another, including how splicing "talks back" to transcription. We will also place the connections between transcription and splicing in the context of other RNA processing events that define the exons that will make up the final mRNA. The production of mRNA relies on the crosstalk between the transcriptional machinery, the chromatin, and the spliceosome. Physical interactions and feedback loops promote two‐way streets between the different nuclear processes.