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. 1982 Oct 11;10(19):6177–6190. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.19.6177

Effect of intron size on splicing efficiency in retroviral transcripts.

B R Cullen, J J Kopchick, D W Stacey
PMCID: PMC320959  PMID: 6292870

Abstract

To study the effect of intron size on splicing efficiency we have varied the size of the avian leukosis virus (ALV) env mRNA intron in a cloned ALV genome. This was accomplished by deletion of ALV sequences or insertion of phage lambda DNA. The effect of these modifications on splicing was analyzed by microinjection of the modified clones into RSV(-) chicken cells. Viral env mRNA when transcribed and properly spliced within these cells complemented the RSV(-) env deficiency leading to the production of focus forming units. Using this assay it was shown that deletion of up to 3.7 kb of the 4.68 kb env intron did not inhibit correct splicing nor did insertion of up to 8 kb of phage lambda DNA prevent splicing. Our results indicate that intron size can be varied over a wide range without preventing splicing.

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Selected References

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