A Genetic Screen Identifies PRP18a, a Putative Second Step Splicing Factor Important for Alternative Splicing and a Normal Phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana.

ABSTRACT: Splicing of pre-mRNA involves two consecutive trans-esterification steps that take place in the spliceosome, a large dynamic ribonucleoprotein complex situated in the nucleus. In addition to core spliceosomal proteins, each catalytic step requires step-specific factors. Although the Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes around 430 predicted splicing factors, functional information about these proteins is limited. In a forward genetic screen based on an alternatively-spliced GFP reporter gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, we identified a mutant impaired in putative step II factor PRP18a, which has not yet been investigated for its role in pre-mRNA splicing in plants. Step II entails cleavage at the 3' splice site accompanied by ligation of the 5' and 3' exons and intron

SUBMITTER: Kanno T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5873924 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature