Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Genetic information is stored in the cell in the form of DNA, which the cell cannot access directly. Instead, DNA information undergoes extensive, multi-step processing before it can be acted upon to direct cellular functions. One of these processes, alternative mRNA splicing, not only transmits genetic information but also enhances it by generating multiple alternative genetic messages from the same gene. The cell expands considerable amount of resources to generate these alternative messages and while some are essential for the proper functioning and development of the cell, the significance of others is a subject of great debate, since their function in the cell is unclear. Is alternative splicing an extravagantly inefficient process, an intricately complex regulatory process, or a powerful evolutionary mechanism? The answer to these questions have important implications about how genetic information is organized and evolves. In this study we will attempt to evaluate the significance of alternative messages by comparing their production in a variety of animals including primates, other mammals, birds, fish, and amphibians. Our guiding principle is that if alternative messages are functionally important then we will be able to trace their evolutionary development and uncover evidence of their role in the various animals we will investigate.