Identification and Validation of Evolutionarily Conserved Unusually Short Pre-mRNA Introns in the Human Genome.

According to the length distribution of human introns, there is a large population of short introns with a threshold of 65 nucleotides (nt) and a peak at 85 nt. Using human genome and transcriptome databases, we investigated the introns shorter than 66 nt, termed ultra-short introns, the identities of which are scarcely known. Here, we provide for the first time a list of bona fide human ultra-short introns, which have never been characterized elsewhere. By conducting BLAST searches of the databases, we screened 22 introns (37-65 nt) with conserved lengths and sequences among closely related species. We then provide experimental and bioinformatic evidence for the splicing of 15 introns, of which 12 introns were remarkably G-rich and 9 introns contained completely inefficient splice sites and/or branch sites. These unorthodox characteristics of ultra-short introns suggest that there are unknown splicing mechanisms that differ from the well-established mechanism.

Mechanistic insights into human pre-mRNA splicing of human ultra-short introns: potential unusual mechanism identifies G-rich introns.

It is unknown how very short introns (<65 nt; termed 'ultra-short' introns) could be spliced in a massive spliceosome (>2.7 MDa) without steric hindrance. By screening an annotated human transcriptome database (H-InvDB), we identified three model ultra-short introns: the 56-nt intron in the HNRNPH1 (hnRNP H1) gene, the 49-nt intron in the NDOR1 (NADPH dependent diflavin oxidoreductase 1) gene, and the 43-nt intron in the ESRP2 (epithelial splicing regulatory protein 2) gene. We verified that these endogenous ultra-short introns are spliced, and also recapitulated this in cultured cells transfected with the corresponding mini-genes. The splicing of these ultra-short introns was repressed by a splicing inhibitor, spliceostatin A, suggesting that SF3b (a U2 snRNP component) is involved in their splicing processes. The 56-nt intron containing a pyrimidine-rich tract was spliced out in a lariat form, and this splicing was inhibited by the disruption of U1, U2, or U4 snRNA. In contrast, the 49- and 43-nt introns were purine-rich overall without any pyrimidine-rich tract, and these lariat RNAs were not detectable. Remarkably, shared G-rich intronic sequences in the 49- and 43-nt introns were required for their splicing, suggesting that these ultra-short introns may recruit a novel auxiliary splicing mechanism linked to G-rich intronic splicing enhancers.

Cwf16p Associating with the Nineteen Complex Ensures Ordered Exon Joining in Constitutive Pre-mRNA Splicing in Fission Yeast.

Exons are ligated in an ordered manner without the skipping of exons in the constitutive splicing of pre-mRNAs with multiple introns. To identify factors ensuring ordered exon joining in constitutive pre-mRNA splicing, we previously screened for exon skipping mutants in Schizosaccharomyces pombe using a reporter plasmid, and characterized three exon skipping mutants named ods1 (ordered splicing 1), ods2, and ods3, the responsible genes of which encode Prp2/U2AF59, U2AF23, and SF1, respectively. They form an SF1-U2AF59-U2AF23 complex involved in recognition of the branch and 3' splice sites in pre-mRNA. In the present study, we identified a fourth ods mutant, ods4, which was isolated in an exon-skipping screen. The ods4+ gene encodes Cwf16p, which interacts with the NineTeen Complex (NTC), a complex thought to be involved in the first catalytic step of the splicing reaction. We isolated two multi-copy suppressors for the ods4-1 mutation, Srp2p, an SR protein essential for pre-mRNA splicing, and Tif213p, a translation initiation factor, in S. pombe. The overexpression of Srp2p suppressed the exon-skipping phenotype of all ods mutants, whereas Tif213p suppressed only ods4-1, which has a mutation in the translational start codon of the cwf16 gene. We also showed that the decrease in the transcriptional elongation rate induced by drug treatment suppressed exon skipping in ods4-1. We propose that Cwf16p/NTC participates in the early recognition of the branch and 3' splice sites and cooperates with the SF1-U2AF59-U2AF23 complex to maintain ordered exon joining.