Nonsense-mediated decay of alternative precursor mRNA splicing variants is a major determinant of the Arabidopsis steady state transcriptome Journal Article


Authors: Drechsel, G.; Kahles, A.; Kesarwani, A. K.; Stauffer, E.; Behr, J.; Drewe, P.; Rätsch, G.; Wachter, A.
Article Title: Nonsense-mediated decay of alternative precursor mRNA splicing variants is a major determinant of the Arabidopsis steady state transcriptome
Abstract: The nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) surveillance pathway can recognize erroneous transcripts and physiological mRNAs, such as precursor mRNA alternative splicing (AS) variants. Currently, information on the global extent of coupled AS and NMD remains scarce and even absent for any plant species. To address this, we conducted transcriptome-wide splicing studies using Arabidopsis thaliana mutants in the NMD factor homologs UP FRAMESHIFT1 (UPF1) and UPF3 as well as wild-type samples treated with the translation inhibitor cycloheximide. Our analyses revealed that at least 17.4% of all multi-exon, protein-coding genes produce splicing variants that are targeted by NMD. Moreover, we provide evidence that UPF1 and UPF3 act in a translation-independent mRNA decay pathway. Importantly, 92.3% of the NMD-responsive mRNAs exhibit classical NMD-eliciting features, supporting their authenticity as direct targets. Genes generating NMD-sensitive AS variants function in diverse biological processes, including signaling and protein modification, for which NaCl stress-modulated AS-NMD was found. Besides mRNAs, numerous noncoding RNAs and transcripts derived from intergenic regions were shown to be NMD responsive. In summary, we provide evidence for a major function of AS-coupled NMD in shaping the Arabidopsis transcriptome, having fundamental implications in gene regulation and quality control of transcript processing. © 2013 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.
Journal Title: Plant Cell
Volume: 25
Issue: 10
ISSN: 1040-4651
Publisher: Amer Soc Plant Biologists  
Date Published: 2013-10-01
Start Page: 3726
End Page: 3742
Language: English
DOI: 10.1105/tpc.113.115485
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC3877825
PUBMED: 24163313
DOI/URL:
Notes: Cited By (since 1996):1 -- Export Date: 2 January 2014 -- CODEN: PLCEE -- Molecular Sequence Numbers: GENBANK: GSE41432 -- Source: Scopus
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
MSK Authors
  1. Gunnar Ratsch
    68 Ratsch
  2. Jonas Tahmoh Behr
    6 Behr
  3. Jan Philipp Jurgen Drewe
    13 Drewe
  4. Andre Kahles
    31 Kahles