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Pre-mRNA splicing is a crucial regulatory process in eukaryotes, ensuring accurate mRNA maturation and contributing to transcript diversity through alternative splicing (AS). This process is mediated by the spliceosome, a large molecular complex composed of small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) and proteins. Structural and comparative analysis have showed that splicing factors are highly conserved across eukaryotes, although the extent of their functional conservation remains to be fully elucidated. In Arabidopsis, two homologous genes, PRP43a and PRP43b, encode components involved in spliceosome disassembly. To investigate the roles of these genes, we characterized T-DNA insertion mutants prp43a-1 and prp43b-1. While prp43b-1 homozygous mutants were embryonic lethal, prp43a-1 mutants displayed no significant developmental defects under normal conditions, nor did they exhibit impaired heat tolerance. However, RNA-seq analysis revealed transcriptional changes in prp43a-1 under normal conditions. Gene ontology (GO) analysis indicated an enrichment of stress-related processes among the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), suggesting a role for PRP43a in stress responses. Additionally, differential alternative splicing (DAS) analysis identified numerous PRP43a-dependent intron retention (IR) events, particularly under heat stress, indicating that PRP43a influences AS under environmental conditions. These findings suggest PRP43a as a modulator of splicing and gene expression, with potential roles in stress responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA splicing is the fundamental process that brings diversity at the transcriptome and proteome levels. The spliceosome complex regulates minor and major processes of RNA splicing. Aberrant regulation is often associated with different diseases, including diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and cancer. In the majority of cancers, dysregulated alternative RNA splicing (ARS) events directly affect tumor progression, invasiveness, and often lead to poor survival of the patients. Alike the rest of the gastrointestinal malignancies, in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which alone contributes to ~ 75% of the liver cancers, a large number of ARS events have been observed, including intron retention, exon skipping, presence of alternative 3'-splice site (3'SS), and alternative 5'-splice site (5'SS). These events are reported in spliceosome and non-spliceosome complexes genes. Molecules such as MCL1, Bcl-X, and BCL2 in different isoforms can behave as anti-apoptotic or pro-apoptotic, making the spliceosome complex a dual-edged sword. The anti-apoptotic isoforms of such molecules bring in resistance to chemotherapy or cornerstone drugs. However, in contrast, multiple malignant tumors, including HCC that target the pro-apoptotic favoring isoforms/variants favor apoptotic induction and make chemotherapy effective. Herein, we discuss different splicing events, aberrations, and antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) in modulating RNA splicing in HCC tumorigenesis with a possible therapeutic outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Splicing disruption is one type of mutation mechanism for disease-predisposing alleles. To date, less than 30 mutations in TTC8/BBS8 have been reported; however, mutations affecting the splice site are rare. Generally missense mutations are assumed to alter protein function; however, reports have shown that mutations in protein coding exons can disrupt splicing by altering exonic splicing silencer or enhancer motifs. Hence, a missense mutation c.1347G > C (p.Q449H) involving final base of the exon 13 in the TTC8, previously identified by us to be linked with non-syndromic autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP), in an Indian family, that might deleteriously affect splicing has been functionally characterized. RNA was isolated, cDNA prepared and amplified using region-specific primers. PCR products were purified and sequenced bi-directionally by Sanger sequencing. Effect of mutation (c.1347G > C) on mRNA splicing has been predicted using bioinformatics tools. We reported that missense mutation (c.1347G > C) at the last base of exon 13 of TTC8 disrupted the canonical donor splice-site resulting in aberrant RNA splicing. A cryptic donor splice-site got activated 77 bases downstream of the authentic splice donor site in intron 13, resulting in the retention of 77 bases of intron 13, and a frameshift leading to pre-mature termination codon in exon 14 at codon 486. Further, duplication of exon 15 and fusion of its duplicated copy occurred with exon 13. The binding site for SC35 protein, normally involved in splicing, also got disrupted (as predicted by SpliceAid2 software), hence, leading to alternative splicing. Our findings strongly suggest that a missense mutation c.1347G > C in TTC8 disrupted the splice donor site causing retention of 77 bases of intron 13, resulting in a frameshift and subsequently introduced a pre-mature termination codon into exon 14, hence creating an altered mRNA transcript. These findings emphasize the significance of examining missense mutations especially in TTC8, to determine their pathogenic role through alternative splicing. Present findings also reiterate the notion that mutations in the TTC8/BBS8 cause phenotypic heterogeneity and does not always follow Mendelian genetics in this ciliopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intron retention (IR) refers to the mechanism of alternative splicing in which an intron is not excised from the mature transcript. IR in the cosmopolitan free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii has not been studied. We performed an analysis of RNA sequencing data during encystment to identify genes that presented differentially retained introns during this process. We show that IR increases during cyst formation, indicating a potential mechanism of gene regulation that could help downregulate metabolism. We identify 69 introns from 67 genes that are differentially retained comparing the trophozoite stage and encystment after 24 and 48 h. These genes include several hypothetical proteins. We show different patterns of IR during encystment taking as examples a lipase, a peroxin-3 protein, an Fbox domain containing protein, a proteasome subunit, a polynucleotide adenylyltransferase, and a tetratricopeptide domain containing protein. A better understanding of IR in Acanthamoeba, and even other protists, could help elucidate changes in life cycle and combat disease such as Acanthamoeba keratitis in which the cyst is key for its persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Overexpression of the naturally occurring intron-retained (IR) forms of radish RsMYB1 and RsTT8 transcripts in Arabidopsis causes a substantial increase in anthocyanin accumulation. The production of anthocyanins in plants is tightly controlled by the MYB–bHLH–WD40 (MBW) complex. In this study, analysis of four radish (Raphanus sativus L.) inbred lines with different colored taproots revealed that regulatory genes of anthocyanin biosynthesis, RsMYB1 and RsTT8, produce three transcripts, one completely spliced and two intron retention (IR1 and IR2) forms. Transcripts RsMYB1-IR1 and RsMYB1-IR2 retained the 1st (380 nt) and 2nd (149 nt) introns, respectively; RsTT8-IR1 retained the 4th intron (113 nt); RsTT8-IR2 retained both the 3rd (128 nt) and 4th introns. Levels of most IR forms were substantially low in radish samples, but the RsTT8-IR2 level was higher than RsTT8 in red skin/red flesh (RsRf) root. Since all IR forms contained a stop codon within the intron, they were predicted to encode truncated proteins with defective interaction domains, resulting in the inability to form the MBW complex in vivo. However, tobacco leaves transiently co-expressing RsMYB1-IRs and RsTT8-IRs showed substantially higher anthocyanin accumulation than those co-expressing their spliced forms. Consistently, co-expression of constructs encoding truncated proteins with spliced or IR forms of their interaction partner in tobacco leaves did not result in anthocyanin accumulation. Compared with RsMYB1, the overexpression of RsMYB1-IRs in Arabidopsis pap1 mutant increased anthocyanin accumulation by > sevenfold and upregulated the expression of Arabidopsis flavonoid biosynthesis genes including AtTT8. Our results suggest that the stable co-expression of RsMYB1-IRs in fruit trees and vegetable crops could be used to increase their anthocyanin contents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Intron retention is a stage-specific mechanism of functional attenuation of a subset of co-regulated, functionally related genes during early stages of pollen development. To improve our understanding of the gene regulatory mechanisms that drive developmental processes, we performed a genome-wide study of alternative splicing and isoform switching during five key stages of pollen development in field mustard, Brassica rapa. Surprisingly, for several hundred genes (12.3% of the genes analysed), isoform switching results in stage-specific expression of intron-retaining transcripts at the meiotic stage of pollen development. In such cases, we report temporally regulated switching between expression of a canonical, translatable isoform and an intron-retaining transcript that is predicted to produce a truncated and presumably inactive protein. The results suggest a new pervasive mechanism underlying modulation of protein levels in a plant developmental program. The effect is not based on gene expression induction but on the type of transcript produced. We conclude that intron retention is a stage-specific mechanism of functional attenuation of a subset of co-regulated, functionally related genes during meiosis, especially genes related to ribosome biogenesis, mRNA transport and nuclear envelope architecture. We also propose that stage-specific expression of a non-functional isoform of Brassica rapa BrSDG8, a non-redundant member of histone methyltransferase gene family, linked to alternative splicing regulation, may contribute to the intron retention observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with Tau pathology (FTLD-tau), are a group of neurodegenerative disorders characterized by Tau hyperphosphorylation. Post-translational modifications of Tau such as phosphorylation and truncation have been demonstrated to be an essential step in the molecular pathogenesis of these tauopathies. In this work, we demonstrate the existence of a new, human-specific truncated form of Tau generated by intron 12 retention in human neuroblastoma cells and, to a higher extent, in human RNA brain samples, using qPCR and further confirming the results on a larger database of human RNA-seq samples. Diminished protein levels of this new Tau isoform are found by Westernblotting in Alzheimer's patients' brains (Braak I n = 3; Braak II n = 6, Braak III n = 3, Braak IV n = 1, and Braak V n = 10, Braak VI n = 8) with respect to non-demented control subjects (n = 9), suggesting that the lack of this truncated isoform may play an important role in the pathology. This new Tau isoform exhibits similar post-transcriptional modifications by phosphorylation and affinity for microtubule binding, but more interestingly, is less prone to aggregate than other Tau isoforms. Finally, we present evidence suggesting this new Tau isoform could be linked to the inhibition of GSK3β, which would mediate intron 12 retention by modulating the serine/arginine rich splicing factor 2 (SRSF2). Our results show the existence of an important new isoform of Tau and suggest that further research on this less aggregation-prone Tau may help to develop future therapies for Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precursor-mRNAs (pre-mRNA) can be processed into one or more mature mRNA isoforms through constitutive or alternative splicing pathways. Constitutive splicing of pre-mRNA plays critical roles in gene expressional regulation, such as intron-mediated enhancement (IME), whereas alternative splicing (AS) dramatically increases the protein diversity and gene functional regulation. However, the unavailability of mutants for individual spliced isoforms in plants has been a major limitation in studying the function of mRNA splicing. Here, we describe an efficient tool for manipulating the splicing of plant genes. Using a Cas9-directed base editor, we converted the 5′ splice sites in four Arabidopsis genes from the activated GT form to the inactive AT form. Silencing the AS of HAB1.1 (encoding a type 2C phosphatase) validated its function in abscisic acid signaling, while perturbing the AS of RS31A revealed its functional involvement in plant response to genotoxic treatment for the first time. Lastly, altering the constitutive splicing of Act2 via base editing facilitated the analysis of IME. This strategy provides an efficient tool for investigating the function and regulation of gene splicing in plants and other eukaryotes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase 2, a new member of the CCD family, catalyzes the conversion of zeaxanthin into crocetin-dialdehyde in Crocus. CCD2 is expressed in flowers, being responsible for the yellow, orange and red colorations displayed by tepals and stigma. Three CsCCD2 genes were identified in Crocus sativus, the longest contains ten exons and the shorter is a truncated copy with no introns and which lacks one exon sequence. Analysis of RNA-seq datasets of three developmental stages of saffron stigma allowed the determination of alternative splicing in CsCCD2, being intron retention (IR) the prevalent form of alternative splicing in CsCCD2. Further, high IR was observed in tissues that do not accumulate crocetin. The analysis of one CsCCD2 promoter showed cis-regulatory motifs involved in the response to light, temperature, and circadian regulation. The light and circadian regulation are common elements shared with the previously characterized CsLycB2a promoter, and these shared common cis-acting elements may represent binding sites for transcription factors responsible for co-regulation of these genes during the development of the stigma in saffron. A daily coordinated rhythmic regulation for CsCCD2 and CsLycB2a was observed, with higher levels of mRNA occurring at low temperatures during darkness, confirming the results obtained in the in silico promoter analysis. In addition, to the light and temperature dependent regulation of CsCCD2 expression, the apocarotenoid β-cyclocitral up-regulated CsCCD2 expression and could acts as a mediator of chromoplast-to-nucleus signalling, coordinating the expression of CsCCD2 with the developmental state of the chromoplast in the developing stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apicomplexan parasites including Toxoplasma gondii and Plasmodium species have complex life cycles that include multiple hosts and differentiation through several morphologically distinct stages requiring marked changes in gene expression. This review highlights emerging evidence implicating regulation of mRNA splicing as a mechanism to prime these parasites for rapid gene expression upon differentiation. We summarize the most important insights in alternative splicing including its role in regulating gene expression by decreasing mRNA abundance via 'Regulated Unproductive Splicing and Translation'. As a related but less well-understood mechanism, we discuss also our recent work suggesting a role for intron retention for precluding translation of stage specific isoforms of T. gondii glycolytic enzymes. We additionally provide new evidence that intron retention might be a widespread mechanism during parasite differentiation. Supporting this notion, recent genome-wide analysis of Toxoplasma and Plasmodium suggests intron retention is more pervasive than heretofore thought. These findings parallel recent emergence of intron retention being more prevalent in mammals than previously believed, thereby adding to the established roles in plants, fungi and unicellular eukaryotes. Deeper mechanistic studies of intron retention will provide important insight into its role in regulating gene expression in apicomplexan parasites and more general in eukaryotic organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sorghum bicolor is a member of grass family which is an attractive model plant for genome study due to interesting genome features like low genome size. In this research, we performed comprehensive investigation of Alternative Splicing and ontology aspects of genes those have undergone these events in sorghum bicolor. We used homology based alignments between gene rich transcripts, represented by tentative consensus (TC) transcript sequences, and genomic scaffolds to deduce the structure of genes and identify alternatively spliced transcripts in sorghum. Using homology mapping of assembled expressed sequence tags with genomics data, we identified 2,137 Alternative Splicing events in S. bicolor. Our study showed that complex events and intron retention are the main types of Alternative Splicing events in S. bicolor and highlights the prevalence of splicing site recognition for definition of introns in this plant. Annotations of the alternatively spliced genes revealed that they represent diverse biological process and molecular functions, suggesting a fundamental role for Alternative Splicing in affecting the development and physiology of S. bicolor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arabidopsis thaliana Dicer-like protein 2 (AtDCL2) plays an essential role in the RNA interference pathway. The function of AtDCL2 and other DCLs has been much studied but little has been done to characterize the DCLs transcripts before they are translated into proteins. Here, we investigated AtDCL2 transcripts and showed that all 21 introns of AtDCL2 except intron 9, 18, 20 and 21 could be retained although spliced sequences usually predominated. Intron 10 was more frequently retained and transient expression assays in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves showed that when AG/C at the 3′ splicing site of the intron was changed to AG/G, the intron was more frequently spliced out. Conversely, a high retention of intron 18 was obtained if the AG/G at the 3′ splicing site was changed to AG/C. These results suggest that the sequence at the 3′ splicing site affects the efficiency of intron splicing. The 3′-UTRs of AtDCL2 had lengths between 54 and 154 nts, and the different 3′-UTRs differentially affected the transcriptional levels of fused GFP expressed transiently in N. benthamiana. Further comparisons and mutation experiments suggested that a putative SBF-1 binding site and an AU-rich element in the 3′-UTR both down-regulated expression of the upstream GFP fused to the 3′-UTR. Conversely, a second poly(A) consensus signal sequence in one 3′-UTR up-regulated gene expression. Our results provide insight into the character of AtDCL2 transcripts and demonstrate the potential complexity of factors that affect the frequency and patterns of alternative splicing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

draft sequence of the genome of Brachypodium distachyon, the emerging grass model, was recently released. This represents a unique opportunity to determine its functional diversity compared to the genomes of other model species. Using homology mapping of assembled expressed sequence tags with chromosome scale pseudomolecules, we identified 128 alternative splicing events in B. distachyon. Our study identified that retention of introns is the major type of alternative splicing events (53%) in this plant and highlights the prevalence of splicing site recognition for definition of introns in plants. We have analyzed the compositional profiles of exon-intron junctions by base-pairing nucleotides with U1 snRNA which serves as a model for describing the possibility of sequence conservation. The alternative splicing isoforms identified in this study are novel and represent one of the potentially biologically significant means by which B. distachyon controls the function of its genes. Our observations serve as a basis to understand alternative splicing events of cereal crops with more complex genomes, like wheat or barley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chorismate mutase gene is widely distributed in both cyst and root-knot nematode species and believed to play a critical role in nematode parasitism. In this study, we cloned a new chorismate mutase gene ( Gt-cm-1) from Globodera tabacum and further characterized the gene structure in both G. tabacum and G. pallida, a closely related species of G. rostochiensis. The genomic clones of chorismate mutase genes from these two species were found to contain three introns with the second intron having unusual 5' and 3' splice sites. A previous study revealed that the chorismate mutase gene from G. rostochiensis is subject to alternative splicing through retention of intron 2, a process that allows for the generation of multiple mRNA transcripts from a single gene. As expected, we discovered that alternative splicing of the chorismate mutase gene is a conserved event in three Globodera species, supporting an important role of alternative splicing in regulating chorismate mutase gene function in plant parasitism by these nematodes. In addition to the potential suboptimal 5' and 3' splice sites and the small size of intron 2, detailed sequence analysis also identified candidate cis-acting elements that might be responsible for regulating intron retention of Globodera chorismate mutase genes. Based on genomic sequence variations observed, we developed TaqMan qPCR assays that provided a highly specific and sensitive identification of each Globodera species, revealing a new application of using the chorismate mutase gene as a valuable diagnostic marker for plant-parasitic nematodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the screening of a suppression subtractive library developed from durum wheat plants exposed to low temperature for 6 h, two early cold-regulated ( e-cor) genes have been isolated. These genes, coding putatively for a ribokinase ( 7H8) and a C3H2C3 RING-finger protein ( 6G2), were characterized by the stress-induced retention of a subset of introns in the mature mRNA. This feature was dependent on cold for 7H8 and on cold and dehydration for 6G2. When other genes, such as the stress-related gene WCOR410c, coding for a dehydrin (one intron), or a gene coding for a putative ATP binding cassette transporter (16 introns) were analyzed, no cold-dependent intron retention was observed. Cold-induced intron retention was not observed in mutants defective in the chloroplast development; nevertheless treatment with cycloheximide in the absence of cold was able to promote intron retention for the 7H8 e-cor gene. These results suggest that the cold-induced intron retention reflects the response of the spliceosoma to specific environmental signals transduced to the splicing protein factors through a chloroplast-dependent pathway. Notably, when the 7H8 Arabidopsis orthologous gene was analyzed, no stress induction in terms of mRNA abundance and no cold-dependent intron retention was detected. Otherwise, 6G2 Arabidopsis homologous sequences sharing the same genomic structure of the durum wheat 6G2 showed a similar intron retention event although not strictly dependent on stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that differences in the ability of normal and malignant cells to process certain alternatively spliced pre-mRNA transcripts can be exploited as a potentially powerful means of targeting the expression of therapeutic genes to tumor cells in vivo and in vitro. Specifically, it was shown that efficient processing of minigene constructs containing the alternatively spliced CD44 exons v9 and v10 only occurs in tumor cells that express CD44 isoforms that incorporate these exons (e.g. CD44R1). In the present study, efforts were made to define the molecular mechanisms that underlie the apparent specificity of this process. RT-PCR analysis and DNA sequencing were used to characterize the various splicing events that occur between CD44 exons v8, v9 and v10 following transfection of minigene constructs containing these various exons into CD44R1-positive (PC3) and CD44R1-negative (T24) cell lines. The results obtained confirm that although the v8-v9 intron is efficiently removed in both CD44R1-positive and CD44R1-negative cells, the corresponding v9-v10 intron is accurately spliced and the exons appropriately joined only in lines that express v10-containing CD44 isoforms (e.g. PC3). In CD44R1-negative cell lines (e.g. T24) alternative 5'and 3'splice sites located within the v9-v10 intron are preferentially used, resulting in various portions of the intron being retained within the final processed mRNA product. It is proposed that identification of these functionally important intronic sequence elements will facilitate the development of second generation“splice activated gene expression”vectors that may prove useful in various cancer gene therapy applications.Cancer Gene Therapy (2004) 11, 797-807. doi:10.1038/sj.cgt.7700759 Published online 10 September 2004 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G-box-binding factors are plant transcription factors, involved in a wide range of biological processes including abiotic stress responses. In this study, we analyzed the expression of OsGBF1 during salt stress in two contrasting Oryza sativa spp. indica genotypes, Rasi and Tellahamsa. Two-day-old seedlings were exposed to NaCl stress under two different conditions. One set was exposed to 100 mM NaCl before transferring to 250 mM (induction stress), while another set was transferred directly to 250 mM (shock stress). During early induction stress, OsGBF1 was up-regulated in Rasi when compared to Tellahamsa. We cloned full-length OsGBF1 from these two genotypes, and analyzed the sequences. Our analysis indicated the presence of transcript variants, which are designated as OsGBF1a and 1b. OsGBF1b variant retained introns, which lead to the generation of premature termination codon. OsGBF1b transcript levels were not significantly different at 12-h of induction stress in Tellahamsa and Rasi. At 24-h of shock stress, OsGBF1b was up-regulated in both genotypes and the transcript was more in Rasi. Since, OsGBF1a and 1b are predicted to be splice variants, we examined expression pattern of OsSKIP, a splicing factor and component of the spliceosome. In induction stress, OsSKIP was up-regulated at 12- and 24-h in Rasi when compared to Tellahamsa. On the contrary, at 24-h shock stress, OsSKIP was down-regulated in Rasi when compared to Tellahamsa. It is possible that OsSKIP expression was increased in Rasi during induction stress for accurate splicing that could aid in tolerance. This is the first report on OsGBF1 splice variant and the variant could have specific functions linked to stress tolerance in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]