Splicing alternatives

26 Apr 2012

Increasing protein diversity is one of the roles attributed to alternative splicing – the frequently occurring mechanism in which multiple transcript isoforms are produced from a single gene. Genome-wide studies in plants have shown that alternative splicing is responsible for increasing the transcriptome complexity, but it remains unclear whether this also results in function diversity on the protein level. That requires detailed analysis of the alternative splicing process relating to individual genes or gene families.

Edouard Severing (Plant Research International/Wageningen University) and colleagues selected the well-studied MADS domain transcription factor family, for an in silico analysis of the potential impact of alternative splicing on protein-protein interactions of MADS domain proteins. Their results support the impact of alternative splicing on a subgroup of this family that followed earlier genome-wide studies. The authors state that their detailed approach has the power to reveal relevant alternative splicing events that are not distinguishable in global patterns.

Severing EI, van Dijk ADJ, Morabito G, Busscher-Lange J, Immink RGH and van Ham RCHJ
Predicting the impact of alternative splicing on plant MADS domain protein function
PLoS ONE 7(1):e30524. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030524

By: Esther Thole

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