Alternative splicing and the steady-state ratios of mRNA isoforms generated by it are under strong stabilizing selection in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Molecular Biology and Evolution
Sergio Barberan-Soler, Alan M Zahler

Abstract

Evolutionary studies indicate that a high proportion of alternative splicing (AS) events are species-specific; just 28% of minor-form alternatively spliced exons are conserved between mice and humans. We employed a splicing-sensitive microarray to study the evolution of allele-specific AS in nematodes. We compared splicing levels among five distinct Caenorhabditis elegans lines. Our results indicate that AS is less variable between natural isolates (NIs) from England, Hawaii, and Australia than when compared with mutation accumulation lines (6% vs. 21%, respectively, vary compared with N2). This suggests that strong stabilizing selection shapes the evolution of the ratios of isoforms generated by AS in C. elegans. When we analyzed some of the splicing changes between the NIs, we found examples of changes in both cis and trans that lead to alterations in gene-specific AS. This indicates that both these mechanisms for changing AS are employed along the path toward speciation in nematodes.

References

Oct 1, 1993·Genes & Development·R Pulak, P Anderson
Apr 1, 1994·Molecular and Cellular Biology·C E DabrowskiP A Schaffer
Jan 1, 1996·Molecular and Cellular Biology·A M Rushforth, P Anderson
Sep 2, 1997·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·M MorrisonM B Roth
Sep 27, 2000·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·L L VassilievaM Lynch
Oct 24, 2001·Trends in Genetics : TIG·S E Mango
Jul 5, 2002·Genome Research·Rotem SorekDan Graur
Jul 12, 2002·Nature·Tom Maniatis, Bosiljka Tasic
Mar 20, 2003·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Dee R DenverW Kelley Thomas
Jun 5, 2003·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Scott W RoyWalter Gilbert
Nov 5, 2003·Methods : a Companion to Methods in Enzymology·Gordon K Smyth, Terry Speed
Nov 19, 2003·PLoS Biology·Lincoln D SteinRobert H Waterston
Jan 30, 2004·Trends in Genetics : TIG·Rotem SorekGil Ast
Jun 18, 2005·Bioinformatics·G RätschB Schölkopf
Jul 15, 2006·PLoS Computational Biology·Jennifer L KabatAlan M Zahler
Jul 15, 2006·Cell·Benjamin J Blencowe
Dec 13, 2006·Nucleic Acids Research·Eddo KimGil Ast
Jan 2, 2007·PLoS Genetics·Mark M Metzstein, Mark A Krasnow
Jan 11, 2007·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Degen ZhuoBenoit Chabot
Mar 14, 2007·Genome Research·Albert TenesaPeter M Visscher
Apr 18, 2007·Genes & Development·Dasa LongmanJavier F Cáceres
Sep 4, 2007·Journal of Molecular Evolution·Marie E Fahey, Desmond G Higgins
Dec 1, 2007·Molecular Biology and Evolution·Manuel IrimiaScott W Roy
Dec 1, 2007·WormBook : the Online Review of C. Elegans Biology·Antoine Barrière, Marie-Anne Félix

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Sep 2, 2010·Nucleic Acids Research·Sergio Barberan-SolerAlan M Zahler
Jan 21, 2009·BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology·Manuel IrimiaJordi Garcia-Fernandez
Feb 12, 2014·Genome Research·C Joel McManusBrenton R Graveley

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Alternative splicing

Alternative splicing a regulated gene expression process that allows a single genetic sequence to code for multiple proteins. Here is that latest research.