Frequent gain and loss of intronic splicing regulatory elements during the evolution of vertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Splicing regulatory elements (SREs) are sequences bound by proteins that influence splicing of nearby splice sites. Constitutively spliced introns have evolved to utilize many different splicing factors. The evolutionary processes that influenced which splicing factors are used for splicing of individual introns are generally unclear. We demonstrate that in the lineage that gave rise to mammals, many introns lost U-rich sequences and gained G-rich sequences, both of which resemble known SREs. The apparent conversion of U-rich to G-rich SREs suggests that the associated splicing factors are functionally equivalent. In support of this we demonstrated that U-rich and G-rich SREs are both capable of promoting splicing of an SRE-dependent splicing reporter. Furthermore, we demonstrate, using th

SUBMITTER: Voelker RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3606033 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature