title: A simple model to explain evolutionary trends of eukaryotic gene architecture and expression: how competition between splicing and cleavage/polyadenylation factors may affect gene expression and splice-site recognition in eukaryotes.
abstract: Enormous phylogenetic variation exists in the number and sizes of introns in protein-coding genes. Although some consideration has been given to the underlying role of the population-genetic environment in defining such patterns, the influence of the intracellular environment remains virtually unexplored. Drawing from observations on interactions between co-transcriptional processes involved in splicing and mRNA 3'-end formation, a mechanistic model is proposed for splice-site recognition that challenges the commonly accepted intron- and exon-definition models. Under the suggested model, splicing factors that outcompete 3'-end processing factors for access to intronic binding sites concurrently favor the recruitment of 3'-end processing factors at the pre-mRNA tail. This hypothesis sheds new light on observations such as the intron-mediated enhancement of gene expression and the negative correlation between intron length and levels of gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Münster, Germany. francesco.catania@uni-muenster.de
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Catania
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lynch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015870:Gene Expression; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008957:Models, Genetic; D026723:Polyadenylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D012326:RNA Splicing; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins