Regulation of alternative splicing in Catharanthus roseus in response to methyl jasmonate modulation during development and stress resilience

Aala A. Abulfaraj; Abeer Al-Andal

doi:10.1071/FP25017

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 52(4)

Regulation of alternative splicing in Catharanthus roseus in response to methyl jasmonate modulation during development and stress resilience

Aala A. Abulfaraj

^A ^* and Abeer Al-Andal

^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Biological Sciences Department, College of Science and Arts, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia.

^B Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia. Email: amrazn@kku.edu.sa

^* Correspondence to: aaabulfaraj@kau.edu.sa

Handling Editor: Sajid Fiaz

Functional Plant Biology 52, FP25017 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP25017

Submitted: 29 January 2025 Accepted: 18 March 2025 Published: 3 April 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Catharanthus roseus has various terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) with adaptive mechanisms to withstand both biotic and abiotic stresses. We investigated the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on alternative splicing (AS) mechanisms in C. roseus to identify differentially expressed alternatively spliced (DAS) genes following MeJA treatment. We found pairs of co-expressed splicing factors (SFs) and DAS genes and potential roles of co-expressed SFs in the maturation of their respective transcripts. Twenty two clusters encompassing 17 MeJA-responsive DAS genes co-expressed with 10 SF genes. DAS genes, C3H62, WRK41, PIL57, NIP21, and EDL6, exhibited co-expression with the SF genes SR34a, DEAD29, SRC33, DEAH10, and DEAD29, respectively. These gene pairs are implicated in plant developmental processes and/or stress responses. We suggest that MeJA activates the expression of genes encoding SFs that are regulated in tandem with their co-expressed DAS genes and MeJA may enhance the regulatory frameworks that control splicing mechanisms, resulting in the generation of specific mRNA isoforms. This triggers the expression of particular DAS gene variants to allow the plant to effectively respond to environmental stimuli and developmental signals. Our study advances our understanding on how MeJA modulates alternative splicing in C. roseus, potentially influencing various aspects of plant physiology and metabolism. It is recommended that future studies focus on validating the functional relationships between the identified SF/DAS gene pairs and their specific roles in plant development and stress responses, and exploring the potential of manipulating these splicing mechanisms to enhance the production of valuable TIAs in C. roseus.

Keywords: abiotic stress, concordant expression, functional annotation, gene isoform, RNA-Seq, serine-arginine-rich, splicing factor, TIA.

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