BioProject

Alternative splicing is considered a major mechanism for creating multicellular diversity from a limited repertoire of genes. More...

Alternative splicing is considered a major mechanism for creating multicellular diversity from a limited repertoire of genes. Different isoforms can be produced at the same time in the same cell type and their ratios can be the same or different between divergent genotypes. Here, we studied genetic variation in alternative splicing patterns in a large recombinant inbred population of C. elegans, using whole-genome tiling arrays. This experiment allowed us to detect heritable differences in gene expression with exquisite sensitivity and resolution, and we detected 435 genes with substantial heritable variation for at least one exon. Nonetheless, we find only a very small number of examples of heritable variation in alternative splicing (22 transcripts), and most of these genes co-localize with the associated genomic loci. This is in striking contrast to earlier observations in humans, which showed much less genetic robustness. Overall design: C. elegans recombinant inbred lines were generated and genotyped as described in (Li et al. 2006). mRNA was isolated from 60 RILs reared under standard condition and hybridized to Affymetrix 1.0 C. elegans tiling arrays. The hybridization was done by ServiceXS (Leiden, The Netherlands). Less...