Abstract
We demonstrated that expression of an Arabidopsis splicing factor, atSR30, is transiently induced by high-light stress, suggesting an involvement of atSR30 in regulation of alternative splicing mechanism in response to the stress. To clarify the role of atSR30 as a splicing regulator, we isolated other SR proteins interacted with atSR30 by a yeast two-hybrid assay, suggesting that the atSR30 and these SR proteins function coordinately in the assembling of spliceosomal components. Next, we identified genes, of which alternative splicing efficiencies are regulated by atSR30, using the Arabidopsis thaliana genome tilling array. Changes in the expression levels of 65 genome regions in the knockout atSR30 plants (KO-ar30) compared with those in the wild-type plants were observed. By a semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis, we verified changes in the alternative splicing efficiencies and/or in the transcriptional levels of genes in the vicinity of the genome regions. These results suggest that atSR30 acts as a regulator of the expression of various genes through control of alternative splicing efficiency of transcriptional regulators.
