Characterization of exon skipping mutants of the COP1 gene from Arabidopsis

The removal of introns from pre-mRNA requires accurate recognition and selection of the intron splice sites. Mutations which alter splice site selection and which lead to skipping of specific exons are indicative of intron/ exon recognition mechanisms involving an exon definition process. In this paper, three independent mutants to the COP1 gene in Arabidopsis which show exon skipping were identified and the mutations which alter the normal splicing pattern were characterized. The mutation in cop1-1 was a G --> A change 4 nt upstream from the 3' splice site of intron 5, while the mutation in cop1-2 was a G --> A at the first nucleotide of intron 6, abolishing the conserved G within the 5' splice site consensus. The effect of these mutations was skipping of exon 6. The mutation in cop1-8 was G --> A in the final nucleotide of intron 10 abolishing the conserved G within the 3' splice site consensus and leading to skipping of exon 11. The splicing patterns surrounding exons 6 and 11 of COP1 in these three mutant lines of Arabidopsis provide evidence for exon definition mechanisms operating in plant splicing.