RNA-Seq analysis of splicing in Plasmodium falciparum uncovers new splice junctions, alternative splicing and splicing of antisense transcripts.

ABSTRACT: Over 50% of genes in Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest human malaria parasite, contain predicted introns, yet experimental characterization of splicing in this organism remains incomplete. We present here a transcriptome-wide characterization of intraerythrocytic splicing events, as captured by RNA-Seq data from four timepoints of a single highly synchronous culture. Gene model-independent analysis of these data in conjunction with publically available RNA-Seq data with HMMSplicer, an in-house developed splice site detection algorithm, revealed a total of 977 new 5' GU-AG 3' and 5 new 5' GC-AG 3' junctions absent from gene models and ESTs (11% increase to the current annotation). In addition, 310 alternative splicing events were detected in 254 (4.5%) genes, most of which truncate open

SUBMITTER: Sorber K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3089446 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature