The Evolutionary Landscape of Alternative Splicing in Vertebrate Species

TLDR

Vertebrate phenotypic diversity exceeds their limited protein‑coding genomes and conserved mRNA expression, and alternative splicing of multi‑exon genes can generate multiple protein isoforms. The authors analyzed alternative splicing across diverse vertebrate genomes, including humans, primates, rodents, opossum, platypus, chicken, lizard, and frog. Alternative splicing evolves rapidly, with organ patterns reflecting species identity more than organ type, and species‑specific splicing can alter key regulators in disordered or phosphorylation‑prone regions, affecting protein interactions. References: Barbosa‑Morais et al.

Abstract

Whence Species Variation? Vertebrates have widely varying phenotypes that are at odds with their much more limited proteincoding genotypes and conserved messenger RNA expression patterns. Genes with multiple exons and introns can undergo alternative splicing, potentially resulting in multiple protein isoforms (see the Perspective by Papasaikas and Valcárcel ). Barbosa-Morais et al. (p. 1587 ) and Merkin et al. (p. 1593 ) analyzed alternative splicing across the genomes of a variety of vertebrates, including human, primates, rodents, opossum, platypus, chicken, lizard, and frog. The findings suggest that the evolution of alternative splicing has for the most part been very rapid and that alternative splicing patterns of most organs more strongly reflect the identity of the species rather than the organ type. Species-classifying alternative splicing can affect key regulators, often in disordered regions of proteins that may influence protein-protein interactions, or in regions involved in protein phosphorylation.