The evolutionary landscape of alternative splicing in vertebrate species
Science, vol.338, no.6114, pp.1587-1593, 2012 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 338 Issue: 6114
- Publication Date: 2012
- Doi Number: 10.1126/science.1230612
- Journal Name: Science
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Page Numbers: pp.1587-1593
- Isparta University of Applied Sciences Affiliated: No
Abstract
How species with similar repertoires of protein-coding genes differ so markedly at the phenotypic level is poorly understood. By comparing organ transcriptomes from vertebrate species spanning ∼350 million years of evolution, we observed significant differences in alternative splicing complexity between vertebrate lineages, with the highest complexity in primates. Within 6 million years, the splicing profiles of physiologically equivalent organs diverged such that they are more strongly related to the identity of a species than they are to organ type. Most vertebrate species-specific splicing patterns are cis-directed. However, a subset of pronounced splicing changes are predicted to remodel protein interactions involving trans-acting regulators. These events likely further contributed to the diversification of splicing and other transcriptomic changes that underlie phenotypic differences among vertebrate species.