Alternative splicing in Drosophila neuronal development

Abstract

Post-transcriptional pre-mRNA splicing has emerged as a critical step in the gene expression cascade greatly influencing diversification and spatiotemporal control of the proteome in many developmental processes. The percentage of genes targeted by alternative splicing (AS) is shown to be over 95% in humans and 60% in Drosophila. Therefore, it is evident that deregulation of this process underlies many genetic diseases. Among all tissues, the brain shows the highest transcriptome diversity, which is not surprising in view of the complex inter- and intracellular networks underlying the development of this organ. Reports of isoforms known to function at different steps during Drosophila nervous system development are rapidly increasing as well as knowledge on their regulation and function, highlighting the role of AS during neuronal development in Drosophila.

Keywords:

• Alternative splicing
• Drosophila
• neurogenesis
• post-transcriptional regulation

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Sarah Ortolf and George Pyrowolakis as well as the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript. C.M. and B.H. are indebted to the BadenWürttemberg Stiftung (Eliteprogram für Postdocs) for financial support of their research project. C.M. is supported by the GRK 1104.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.