Authors
Sean P Gordon, Elizabeth Tseng, Asaf Salamov, Jiwei Zhang, Xiandong Meng, Zhiying Zhao, Dongwan Kang, Jason Underwood, Igor V Grigoriev, Melania Figueroa, Jonathan S Schilling, Feng Chen, Zhong Wang
Publication date
2015/7/15
Journal
PloS one
Volume
10
Issue
7
Pages
e0132628
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Description
Genes in prokaryotic genomes are often arranged into clusters and co-transcribed into polycistronic RNAs. Isolated examples of polycistronic RNAs were also reported in some higher eukaryotes but their presence was generally considered rare. Here we developed a long-read sequencing strategy to identify polycistronic transcripts in several mushroom forming fungal species including Plicaturopsis crispa, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trametes versicolor, and Gloeophyllum trabeum. We found genome-wide prevalence of polycistronic transcription in these Agaricomycetes, involving up to 8% of the transcribed genes. Unlike polycistronic mRNAs in prokaryotes, these co-transcribed genes are also independently transcribed. We show that polycistronic transcription may interfere with expression of the downstream tandem gene. Further comparative genomic analysis indicates that polycistronic transcription is conserved among a wide range of mushroom forming fungi. In summary, our study revealed, for the first time, the genome prevalence of polycistronic transcription in a phylogenetic range of higher fungi. Furthermore, we systematically show that our long-read sequencing approach and combined bioinformatics pipeline is a generic powerful tool for precise characterization of complex transcriptomes that enables identification of mRNA isoforms not recovered via short-read assembly.
Total citations
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024492738526057533323