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The chromatin remodeling complex SWI/SNF is a master regulator of meiotic splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Author(s) -
Venkataramanan Srivats,
Douglass Stephen,
Galivanche Anoop Raj,
Johnson Tracy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.802.2
Subject(s) - rna splicing , swi/snf , biology , genetics , intron , spliceosome , microbiology and biotechnology , saccharomyces cerevisiae , chromatin , exonic splicing enhancer , sr protein , chromatin remodeling , gene , rna
Despite its relatively streamlined genome, there are important examples of regulated RNA splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . One of the most striking is the splicing of meiotic transcripts. At the onset of meiosis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae , like other eukaryotes, undergoes a dramatic reprogramming of gene expression. This includes regulated transcription and splicing of a number of meiosis‐specific transcripts. Splicing of a subset of these is dependent upon the meiosis‐specific splicing activator Mer1. Here we show a crucial role for the chromatin remodeling complex Swi/Snf in meiotic regulation of splicing. We find that the complex affects meiotic splicing in multiple ways. First, meiosis‐specific downregulation of Snf2, the ATPase subunit of Swi/Snf, regulates the subsequent downregulation of ribosomal protein genes (RPGs), RPGs are enriched in introns, and are highly transcribed. Their downregulation leads to the redistribution of spliceosomes from this abundant class of intron‐containing RNAs to Mer1‐regulated transcripts, which otherwise have poor affinity for the spliceosome. Secondly, expression of Mer1 itself is absolutely dependent on Swi/Snf—Snf2 is poised at the Mer1 promoter, and the timing of Snf2 downregulation allows elegant coordination of these mechanisms. This precisely timed meiotic regulation of Snf2 involves co‐ordination of regulated transcription, translation, protein acetylation and turnover. Hence, the Swi/Snf complex directs the regulated splicing of meiotic genes, establishing it as a master regulator of meiotic splicing in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . Moreover, meiosis serves as an elegant example of a poorly understood, but undoubtedly important general regulatory mechanism employed by cells, whereby redistribution of limiting gene‐regulation machineries to different classes of targets serves as an adaptive strategy in response to environmental changes. Support or Funding Information NIH GM05474 NIH P50 GM085764 Whitcome Pre‐Doctoral Fellowship in Molecular Biology.