PLoS One:中科院植生所方玉达研究组发表植物细胞核结构和功能研

摘要 : 2017年3月8日，国际知名学术期刊《PLOS genetics》杂志在线发表了中国科学院上海生命科学研究院植物生理生态研究所方玉达研究组题为“Depletion of Arabidopsis SC35 and SC35-like serine/arginine-rich proteins affects the transcription and splicing of a subset of genes”的研究论文

2017年3月8日，国际知名学术期刊《PLOS genetics》杂志在线发表了中国科学院上海生命科学研究院植物生理生态研究所方玉达研究组题为“Depletion of Arabidopsis SC35 and SC35-like serine/arginine-rich proteins affects the transcription and splicing of a subset of genes”的研究论文，文章揭示了拟南芥核小斑中SC35及其类似蛋白(SCL蛋白)通过调控部分基因的转录和剪接从而影响植物生长发育的分子细胞生物学机制。博士生闫青青为第一作者，方玉达研究员为论文通讯作者。

SR蛋白是生物体内富含有丝氨酸/精氨酸(serine/arginine-rich)的一类非常保守的蛋白家族。动物中关于SR蛋白的研究有很多，但是由于功能的冗余性，植物中对SR蛋白的研究比较少。

方玉达研究组发现拟南芥中SC35/SCL蛋白的五突变体sc35-scl表现出叶片锯齿，晚花，根变短以及果荚排列异常等多种表型异常。研究表明SC35/SCL蛋白定位于细胞核小斑(nuclear speckles)中并与U1 snRNP(U1-70K)和U2 snRNP(U2AF65a)相互作用。进一步分析表明SC35/SCL蛋白能偏好识别一段含有AGAAGA的RNA序列并参与了前体mRNA(pre-mRNA)的剪接过程。针对sc35-scl晚花表型的综合研究发现SC35/SCL不仅抑制了开花关键基因FLC基因的第一个内含子的剪接，而且也影响FLC基因的转录过程。这些结果说明拟南芥中SC35/SCL蛋白通过调节植物体内前体mRNA的转录和剪接加工从而维持植物体内基因的正常表达从而调控植物的生长发育过程。


原文链接：

Depletion of Arabidopsis SC35 and SC35-like serine/arginine-rich proteins affects the transcription and splicing of a subset of GENEs

原文摘要：

Serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins are important splicing factors which play significant roles in spliceosome assembly and splicing regulation. However, little is known regarding their biological functions in plants. Here, we analyzed the phenotypes of mutants upon depleting different subfamilies of Arabidopsis SR proteins. We found that loss of the functions of SC35 and SC35-like (SCL) proteins cause pleiotropic changes in plant morphology and development, including serrated leaves, late flowering, shorter roots and abnormal silique phyllotaxy. Using RNA-seq, we found that SC35 and SCL proteins play roles in the pre-mRNA splicing. Motif analysis revealed that SC35 and SCL proteins preferentially bind to a specific RNA sequence containing the AGAAGA motif. In addition, the transcriptions of a subset of genes are affected by the deletion of SC35 and SCL proteins which interact with NRPB4, a specific subunit of RNA polymerase II. The splicing of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) intron1 and transcription of FLCwere significantly regulated by SC35 and SCL proteins to control Arabidopsis flowering. Therefore, our findings provide mechanistic insight into the functions of plant SC35 and SCL proteins in the regulation of splicing and transcription in a direct or indirect manner to maintain the proper expression of genes and development.

doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006663

作者：方玉达

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