Plant splicing factor U1C: Evolution and stress-response potential

Abstract Alternative splicing in all organisms proceeds via spliceosomal complex formation involving various small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) proteins, and in its early stages, one of the components, called U1C, is deemed essential for 5′ splice site interaction with the U1 snRNP machinery via splice site recognition followed by base pairing. However, a systematic analysis of the U1C gene family in response to developmental cues and stress conditions in plants has not been performed. Basic bioinformatic analysis identified 114 U1C genes in 72 plant species. Comparisons of gene and protein structures, promoter motifs, and tissue- and stress-specific expression levels by phylogenetic analysis revealed their functional commonness or diversity in response to developmental cues such as embryonic expression or under stress treatments such as drought and heat. Moreover, fluorescence quantitative expression analysis showed that U1C gene expression levels changed under salt, low temperature, drought, and cadmium stress in rice seedlings; however, the performance of shoots and roots was not consistent under different stress conditions.