MBE Advance Access published online on March 23, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msi139
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, Tennis Court Road, Cambridge CB2 1QT, UK
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. In Kinetoplastids, Euglena and four metazoan phyla, trans-splicing has been described as a mechanism for the generation of mature mRNAs: 5' ends of precursor mRNAs are replaced by a short spliced leader (SL) exon from a small SL RNA. Although the full phylogenetic range of trans-splicing is unknown, it has not been found in vertebrates, insects, plants or yeast. In animal groups where it does occur, i.e. nematodes, cnidarians, platyhelminths and primitive chordates, SL RNAs do not show sequence relatedness across phyla. The apparently sporadic phylogenetic distribution and the lack of SL RNA homology have led to opposing hypotheses on its evolution, involving either an ancient origin followed by loss in multiple lineages, or independent acquisition in several taxa. Here we present evidence for the occurrence of trans-splicing in bdelloid rotifers (Bdelloidea, Rotifera). A common 23-nucleotide sequence, representing the SL exon - diagnostic of SL RNA-mediated trans-splicing - was found at the 5' end of at least 50-65% of mRNAs from Adineta ricciae and Philodina sp. The trans-splicing pattern in bdelloid rotifers can be unusually complex, as observed in transcripts from a heat shock protein gene, hsp82-1, where the SL exon was spliced to three alternative positions. Bdelloid rotifer SL RNAs were found to be 105 or 106 nt long and comprised the SL sequence, a conserved splice donor site and an intron containing a putative spliceosome binding motif. Intriguingly, some similarity of rotifer SL RNA sequence and predicted secondary structure was seen to that of the predominant SL1 RNA of nematodes, although it is unlikely that this demonstrates homology. In addition, sequence corresponding to the rotifer SL exon was found at the 5' end of a number of full-length cDNA clones in a rice (Oryza sativa) database. None of these cDNAs gave a close match with homologous plant genes, suggesting that a small but significant portion of the rice EST database represents sequences derived from rotifers. In summary, the description of SL-mediated trans-splicing in Rotifera extends its representation to at least five metazoan phyla, making it increasingly probable that this is a phylogenetically widespread and therefore ancient phenomenon.
Accepted March 16, 2005
Research Article
Spliced-leader RNA mediated trans-splicing in phylum Rotifera
Alan Tunnacliffe, E-mail: at10004{at}biotech.cam.ac.uk
Abstract 
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  H. Zhang, D. A. Campbell, N. R. Sturm, and S. Lin Dinoflagellate Spliced Leader RNA Genes Display a Variety of Sequences and Genomic Arrangements Mol. Biol. Evol., August 1, 2009; 26(8): 1757 - 1771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. A. Gladyshev, M. Meselson, and I. R. Arkhipova Massive Horizontal Gene Transfer in Bdelloid Rotifers Science, May 30, 2008; 320(5880): 1210 - 1213. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Pettitt, B. Muller, I. Stansfield, and B. Connolly Spliced leader trans-splicing in the nematode Trichinella spiralis uses highly polymorphic, noncanonical spliced leaders RNA, April 1, 2008; 14(4): 760 - 770. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Zhang, Y. Hou, L. Miranda, D. A. Campbell, N. R. Sturm, T. Gaasterland, and S. Lin Spliced leader RNA trans-splicing in dinoflagellates PNAS, March 13, 2007; 104(11): 4618 - 4623. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Y. Satou, M. Hamaguchi, K. Takeuchi, K. E. M. Hastings, and N. Satoh Genomic overview of mRNA 5'-leader trans-splicing in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis Nucleic Acids Res., July 5, 2006; 34(11): 3378 - 3388. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Cheng, L. Cohen, D. Ndegwa, and R. E. Davis The Flatworm Spliced Leader 3'-Terminal AUG as a Translation Initiator Methionine J. Biol. Chem., January 13, 2006; 281(2): 733 - 743. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. S. Cohen, C. Mikhli, X. Jiao, M. Kiledjian, G. Kunkel, and R. E. Davis Dcp2 Decaps m2,2,7GpppN-Capped RNAs, and Its Activity Is Sequence and Context Dependent Mol. Cell. Biol., October 15, 2005; 25(20): 8779 - 8791. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. M. Zayas, T. D. Bold, and P. A. Newmark Spliced-Leader trans-Splicing in Freshwater Planarians Mol. Biol. Evol., October 1, 2005; 22(10): 2048 - 2054. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|