Abstract
Enormous phylogenetic variation exists in the number and sizes of introns in protein-coding genes. Although some consideration has been given to the underlying role of the population-genetic environment in defining such patterns, the influence of the intracellular environment remains virtually unexplored. Drawing from observations on interactions between co-transcriptional processes involved in splicing and mRNA 3′-end formation, a mechanistic model is proposed for splice-site recognition that challenges the commonly accepted intron- and exon-definition models. Under the suggested model, splicing factors that outcompete 3′-end processing factors for access to intronic binding sites concurrently favor the recruitment of 3′-end processing factors at the pre-mRNA tail. This hypothesis sheds new light on observations such as the intron-mediated enhancement of gene expression and the negative correlation between intron length and levels of gene expression.
Original language | English (US) |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 561-570 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | BioEssays |
Volume | 35 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2013 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cleavage and polyadenylation
- Exon definition
- Gene expression
- Intron definition
- Splicing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology