Alternative Splicing in Plant Genes: A Means of Regulating the Environmental Fitness of Plants

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 18; no. 2; p. 432
• Main Authors: Shang, Xudong, Cao, Ying, Ma, Ligeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.02.2017; MDPI
• Subjects: Alternative Splicing; Carrier Proteins - metabolism; Circadian Clocks - genetics; Environment; environmental fitness; Eukaryotes; Flowers - genetics; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene-Environment Interaction; Genes, Plant; Genetic Fitness; plant; Plant Development - genetics; Plants - genetics; Plants - metabolism; Protein Binding; Proteomes; Review; RNA Splicing Factors - metabolism; RNA, Messenger - genetics; Stress, Physiological - genetics; Temperature; Transcription Factors - metabolism; transcriptional regulation; alternative splicing; environmental fitness; transcriptional regulation; gene expression; plant
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms18020432

Gene expression can be regulated through transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. Transcription in eukaryotes produces pre-mRNA molecules, which are processed and spliced post-transcriptionally to create translatable mRNAs. More than one mRNA may be produced from a single pre-mRNA by alternative splicing (AS); thus, AS serves to diversify an organism's transcriptome and proteome. Previous studies of gene expression in plants have focused on the role of transcriptional regulation in response to environmental changes. However, recent data suggest that post-transcriptional regulation, especially AS, is necessary for plants to adapt to a changing environment. In this review, we summarize recent advances in our understanding of AS during plant development in response to environmental changes. We suggest that alternative gene splicing is a novel means of regulating the environmental fitness of plants.