Alternative splicing of conserved exons is frequently species-specific in human and mouse.
In this article, we provide evidence that a frequent source of diversity between mammalian transcripts occurs as a consequence of species-specific alternative splicing (AS) of conserved exons. Using a highly predictive computational method, we estimate that >11% of human and mouse cassette alternative exons undergo skipping in one species but constitutively splicing in the other. These species-specific AS events are predicted to modify conserved domains in proteins more frequently than other classes of AS events. The results thus provide evidence that species-specific AS of conserved exons constitutes an additional potential source of complexity and species-specific differences between mammals.
Pan
Qun
Q
CH Best Institute, University of Toronto, 112 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1L6.
Bakowski
Malina A
MA
Morris
Quaid
Q
Zhang
Wen
W
Frey
Brendan J
BJ
Hughes
Timothy R
TR
Blencowe
Benjamin J
BJ
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D005091:Exons; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D016678:Genome; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012984:Software; D013045:Species Specificity