title: Analysis of genetic interaction networks shows that alternatively spliced genes are highly versatile.
abstract: Alternative splicing has the potential to increase the diversity of the transcriptome and proteome. Where more than one transcript arises from a gene they are often so different that they are quite unlikely to have the same function. However, it remains unclear if alternative splicing generally leads to a gene being involved in multiple biological processes or whether it alters the function within a single process. Knowing that genetic interactions occur between functionally related genes, we have used them as a proxy for functional versatility, and have analysed the sets of genes of two well-characterised model organisms: Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Using network analyses we find that few genes are functionally homogenous (only involved in a few functionally-related biological processes). Moreover, there are differences between alternatively spliced genes and genes with a single transcript; specifically, genes with alternatively splicing are, on average, involved in more biological processes. Finally, we suggest that factors other than specific functional classes determine whether a gene is alternatively spliced.
authors: Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK. David.Talavera@manchester.ac.uk
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Talavera
authors: Ritika
authors: R
authors: Sheoran
authors: Simon C
authors: SC
authors: Lovell
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger