Abstract
Multiple mRNA isoforms are often generated during processing such as alternative splicing of precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNA), resulting in a diversity of generated proteins. Alternative splicing is an essential mechanism for the functional complexity of eukaryotes. Temperature, which is involved in all life activities at various levels, is one of regulatory factors for controlling patterns of alternative splicing. Temperature-dependent alternative splicing is associated with various phenotypes such as flowering and circadian clock in plants and sex determination in poikilothermic animals. In some specific situations, temperature-dependent alternative splicing can be evoked even in homothermal animals. For example, the splicing pattern of mRNA for a cold shock protein, cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP or CIRBP), is changed in response to a marked drop in body temperature during hibernation of hamsters. In this review, we describe the current knowledge about mechanisms and functions of temperature-dependent alternative splicing in plants and animals. Then we discuss the physiological significance of hypothermia-induced alternative splicing of a cold shock protein gene in hibernating and non-hibernating animals.
Highlights
Alternative splicing of precursor mRNAs is a process in which exons, parts of exons, and/or parts of introns are combinatorially included into mature RNA [1,2,3,4,5,6]
As a molecular candidate involved in the mechanism, we focused on cold shock proteins including as CIRP and RNA-binding motif 3 (RBM3) [129]
Temperature-dependent alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs is widely conserved in eukaryotes including both plants and animals
Summary
Alternative splicing of precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNAs) is a process in which exons, parts of exons, and/or parts of introns are combinatorially included into mature RNA [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Splicing patterns can be changed in response to environmental factors including temperature. Since cellular temperature in plants would directly reflect the environmental temperature, it can be expected that temperature-dependent changes in alternative splicing patterns play a key role in these adaptive responses. We found that the splicing pattern of mRNA for a cold shock protein, cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP or CIRBP), is changed in response to a marked drop in body temperature during hibernation of hamsters [13,14]. The temperature-dependent splicing regulation of CIRP transcripts was initially considered to be specific for hibernating animals but was later shown to occur commonly in rats and mice, which are non-hibernators [15]. We review the current knowledge about mechanisms and functions of temperature-dependent alternative splicing in plants and animals. We discuss the physiological significance of hypothermia-induced alternative splicing of cold shock protein gene in hibernating and non-hibernating animals
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