Chapter 16.4, Problem 1COMQ

Summary Introduction

Introduction:

The eukaryotic genes are composed of introns and exons. Splicing is the process of removal of introns from pre- mRNA. This results in the gene having only exons i.e. coding sequences. Exons are categorized into constitutive and alternative.

Alternative splicing is the splicing of mRNA exons that result in the formation of different polypeptides from the same gene. The pre-mRNAs can be spliced in different ways and that is explained by the researchers via alternative splicing by spliceosomes.

The structure and function of any protein relieson the sequence of the amino acid. The alternative splicing results in the formation of one or more polypeptides with different amino acid sequences. These alternative amino acid sequences have similar functions. The degree of splicing varies among the species. Alternative splicing allows the organism to carry fewer genes in its genome.