Skip Navigation



MBE Advance Access published online on June 22, 2005
Molecular Biology and Evolution, doi:10.1093/molbev/msi200
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
22/10/2048    most recent
msi200v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zayas, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Newmark, P. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zayas, R. M.
Right arrow Articles by Newmark, P. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Accepted June 10, 2005

Research Article

Spliced Leader Trans-splicing in Freshwater Planarians

Ricardo M. Zayas 1 *, Tyler D. Bold 1 *, and Phillip A. Newmark 1*

1 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Phillip A. Newmark, E-mail: pnewmark{at}life.uiuc.edu


  Abstract

Trans-splicing, in which a spliced leader (SL) RNA is appended to the most 5' exon of independently transcribed pre-mRNAs, has been described in a wide range of eukaryotes, from protozoans to chordates. Here we describe trans-splicing in the freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, a free-living member of the Phylum Platyhelminthes. Analysis of an expressed sequence tag (EST) collection from this organism showed that over 300 transcripts shared one of two ~35 base sequences (Smed SL-1 and SL-2) at their 5' ends. Examination of genomic sequences encoding representatives of these transcripts revealed that these shared sequences were transcribed elsewhere in the genome. RNA blot analysis, 5' and 3' RACE, as well as genomic sequence data showed that 42 nucleotide SL sequences were derived from small RNAs of ~110 nucleotides. Similar sequences were also found at the 5' ends of ESTs from the planarian Dugesia japonica. Trans-splicing has already been described in numerous representatives of the Phylum Platyhelminthes (trematodes; cestodes; polyclads); its presence in two representatives of the triclads supports the hypothesis that this mode of RNA processing is ancestral within this group. The upcoming complete genome sequence of S. mediterranea, combined with this animal's experimental accessibility and susceptibility to RNAi, provide another model organism in which to study the function of the still-enigmatic trans-splicing.

Keywords: Spliced-leader RNA; trans-splicing; planarian; Platyhelminthes; Schmidtea mediterranea; Dugesia japonica.

*these authors contributed equally to the work


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Mol Biol EvolHome page
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]

Home page
 RNAHome page
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]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
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]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
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]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.