Basal transcription factors are essential for transcription and cannot increase the rate by themselves.

• A. True
• B. Sometimes
• C. False
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (A)

Basal transcription factors establish the basic transcription machinery at promoters and set a baseline rate for transcription. They are essential because they enable RNA polymerase II to initiate transcription, forming the core pre-initiation complex with promoter DNA. But on their own, they don’t actively boost transcription to higher levels—their role is to enable initiation and maintain a baseline, not to upregulate it. Increasing transcription above that baseline requires additional regulatory input from activator proteins that bind enhancers or promoters and recruit coactivators, modify chromatin, and stabilize the transcription machinery, all of which raise the likelihood and efficiency of initiation. So the statement is true: these factors are essential and cannot by themselves raise the transcription rate beyond the basal level.