Open AccessbsAS, an antisense long non-coding RNA, essential for correct wing development through regulation of blistered/DSRF isoform usage
Author(s) -
Sílvia Pérez-Lluch,
Cecília C. Klein,
Alessandra Breschi,
Marina Ruiz-Romero,
Amaya Abad,
Emilio Palumbo,
Lyazzat Bekish,
Carme Arnan,
Roderic Guigó
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.587
H-Index - 233
eISSN - 1553-7404
pISSN - 1553-7390
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009245
Subject(s) - biology , gene isoform , gene , genetics , rna , computational biology , regulation of gene expression , antisense rna , gene expression , non coding rna , function (biology) , promoter
Natural Antisense Transcripts (NATs) are long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that overlap coding genes in the opposite strand. NATs roles have been related to gene regulation through different mechanisms, including post-transcriptional RNA processing. With the aim to identify NATs with potential regulatory function during fly development, we generated RNA-Seq data in Drosophila developing tissues and found bsAS , one of the most highly expressed lncRNAs in the fly wing. bsAS is antisense to bs/DSRF , a gene involved in wing development and neural processes. bsAS plays a crucial role in the tissue specific regulation of the expression of the bs /DSRF isoforms. This regulation is essential for the correct determination of cell fate during Drosophila development, as bsAS knockouts show highly aberrant phenotypes. Regulation of bs isoform usage by bsAS is mediated by specific physical interactions between the promoters of these two genes, which suggests a regulatory mechanism involving the collision of RNA polymerases transcribing in opposite directions. Evolutionary analysis suggests that bsAS NAT emerged simultaneously to the long-short isoform structure of bs , preceding the emergence of wings in insects.