Evolution of Alternative Splicing Patterns After Whole-genome Duplication

Alternative splicing (AS) is the process by which a pre-mRNA can be processed into two or more alternate transcript isoforms. This is a mechanisms used by eukaryotes to generate transcriptome and proteome diversity and this can also regulate protein abundance. Evidence suggests that AS plays a crucial role in many essential plant functions such as photosynthesis, defense response, flowering, and cereal grain quality. Despite the important roles AS plays in angiosperms (flowering plants), the evolution and conservation of AS events across plant species is not well understood.  This is largely due to a lack of transcriptome sequence data sampled from multiple tissues.  We are examining the fate of AS events in duplicated genes after whole-genome duplication (WGS) using soybean (Glycine max) and Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) as models.  Soybean underwent recent a lineage-specific whole-genome duplication about 5-10 MYA, while Phaseolus vulgaris has not experienced a lineage specific WGD since its divergence from soybean about 19 MYA. We are comparing AS patterns in soybean genes to their Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) orthologues. Results of our investigation will be presented.