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Intron-Mediated Regulation of Gene Expression

  • Chapter
Nuclear pre-mRNA Processing in Plants

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 326))

Introns can significantly affect gene expression in plants and many other eukaryotes in a variety of ways. Several types of gene regulation, both positive and negative, that involve plant introns are reviewed in this chapter. Some introns contain enhancer elements or alternative promoters, while many others elevate mRNA accumulation by a different process that has been named intron-mediated enhancement (IME). The introns involved in IME must be within transcribed sequences near the start of a gene and in their natural orientation to increase expression. The intron sequences involved are still poorly defined, and the mechanism of IME remains mysterious. A model of IME is presented in which introns increase transcript elongation.

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Abbreviations

IME:

Intron-mediated enhancement

NMD:

Nonsense-mediated-mRNA decay

EJC:

Exon junction complex

GUS:

β-Glucuronidase

UTR:

Untranslated region

PolII:

RNA polymerase II

CTD:

Carboxy-terminal domain

mRNA:

Messenger RNA

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    A. B. Rose

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  1. A. B. Rose
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Program in Molecular Plant Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Anireddy S. N. Reddy

  2. Department of Microbiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, USA

    Maxim Golovkin

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Rose, A.B. (2008). Intron-Mediated Regulation of Gene Expression. In: Reddy, A.S.N., Golovkin, M. (eds) Nuclear pre-mRNA Processing in Plants. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 326. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-76776-3_15

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