Evolutionary Perspective and Expression Analysis of Intronless Genes Highlight the Conservation of Their Regulatory Role.

ABSTRACT: The structure of eukaryotic genes is generally a combination of exons interrupted by intragenic non-coding DNA regions (introns) removed by RNA splicing to generate the mature mRNA. A fraction of genes, however, comprise a single coding exon with introns in their untranslated regions or are intronless genes (IGs), lacking introns entirely. The latter code for essential proteins involved in development, growth, and cell proliferation and their expression has been proposed to be highly specialized for neuro-specific functions and linked to cancer, neuropathies, and developmental disorders. The abundant presence of introns in eukaryotic genomes is pivotal for the precise control of gene expression. Notwithstanding, IGs exempting splicing events entail a higher transcriptional fidelity, making

SUBMITTER: Avina-Padilla K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8302217 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature