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. 1988 Nov;85(21):7932–7936. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.21.7932

A 22-nucleotide spliced leader sequence in the human parasitic nematode Brugia malayi is identical to the trans-spliced leader exon in Caenorhabditis elegans.

A M Takacs 1, J A Denker 1, K G Perrine 1, P A Maroney 1, T W Nilsen 1
PMCID: PMC282327  PMID: 3186698

Abstract

The mRNAs encoding a 63-kDa antigen in the human parasitic nematode Brugia Malayi contain a spliced leader sequence of 22 nucleotides (nt) that is identical to the trans-spliced leader found on certain actin mRNAs in the distantly related nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The 22-nt sequence does not appear to be encoded near the 63-kDa genes but is present in multiple copies in several locations within the parasite genome, including the 5S rRNA gene repeat. The 5S-linked copies of the 22-nt sequence are transcribed to yield a 109-nt nonpolyadenylated RNA with the 22-nt leader sequence at its 5' end. We suggest that the 22-nt leader is acquired by 63-kDa antigen mRNAs through trans-splicing. These results indicate that trans-splicing is widespread in nematodes and argue for the functional significance of the 22-nt spliced leader exon in nematode mRNA metabolism.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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