Differential Recruitment of Splice Variants from SR Pre-mRNAs to Polysomes During Development and in Response to Stresses

We have previously shown that precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNAs) of serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins are extensively alternatively spliced to generate approximately 100 distinct splice variants from 14 SR genes and that the splicing pattern of SR pre-mRNAs changes in different organs and in response to abiotic stresses. About half of the splice variants are potential targets of nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) and 25 splice forms were confirmed to be real NMD targets. However, it is not known whether (i) all splice variants are recruited to polysomes for translation; (ii) there is a preferential recruitment of specific splice isoforms to polysomes; and (iii) there is a differential recruitment of splice variants during development and in response to stresses. To address these questions, we analyzed the association of SR splice variants with polysomes from seedlings, different organs and seedlings exposed to heat and cold stress. In seedlings, about one-third of the splice variants (22 out of 72) are not recruited to polysomes. Among those associated with polysomes, the functional isoforms that code for full-length proteins and some candidate putative and confirmed NMD targets were identified. There was preferential recruitment of some splice forms over others. Predominant recruitment of functional isoforms along with a few NMD candidates was found in different organs. Furthermore, we observed differential recruitment of isoforms in different organs. Heat and cold stress enhanced or reduced recruitment of specific splice variants. Our studies reveal differential recruitment of SR splice variants to polysomes under normal conditions, during development and in response to stresses.