title: Aberrant splicing in maizerough endosperm3reveals a conserved role for U12 splicing in eukaryotic multicellular development.
abstract: RNA splicing of U12-type introns functions in human cell differentiation, but it is not known whether this class of introns has a similar role in plants. The maize ROUGH ENDOSPERM3 (RGH3) protein is orthologous to the human splicing factor, ZRSR2.ZRSR2mutations are associated with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and cause U12 splicing defects. Maizergh3mutants have aberrant endosperm cell differentiation and proliferation. We found that most U12-type introns are retained or misspliced inrgh3Genes affected inrgh3andZRSR2mutants identify cell cycle and protein glycosylation as common pathways disrupted. Transcripts with retained U12-type introns can be found in polysomes, suggesting that splicing efficiency can alter protein isoforms. Thergh3mutant protein disrupts colocalization with a known ZRSR2-interacting protein, U2AF2. These results indicate conserved function for RGH3/ZRSR2 in U12 splicing and a deeply conserved role for the minor spliceosome to promote cell differentiation from stem cells to terminal fates.
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8457-1702
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gault
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7491-4468
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: Wenbin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4838-3034
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7706-7594
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.affiliation: Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: Joseph B
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6108-5886
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: W Brad
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Barbazuk
authors.affiliation: Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611; settles@ufl.edu.|Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.|Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
authors.forename: A Mark
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5846-0996
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Settles
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D056625:Endosperm / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D009154:Mutation; D059372:Nucleotide Motifs; D010766:Phosphorylation; D056510:Position-Specific Scoring Matrices; D021381:Protein Transport; D059368:RNA Isoforms; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D012326:RNA Splicing; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear; D000072668:Splicing Factor U2AF / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D059368:RNA Isoforms; D022821:RNA Splice Sites; D012342:RNA, Small Nuclear; D000072668:Splicing Factor U2AF; C096986:U12 small nuclear RNA; C000607494:U2AF2 protein, human
keywords: cell differentiation; maize endosperm; minor spliceosome; myelodysplastic syndrome; stem cell