Abstract

Long intergenic noncoding RNA (lincRNA) genes are abundant in mammals, but their functions remain elusive. The characteristics of lincRNAs can be studied via comparative analysis with those of mRNAs, for which there is a wealth of information. Highly conserved coding sequences (exons) and the exon–intron structure are some typical evolutionary features attributed to eukaryotic mRNAs. The exon structure is conserved considerably less in lincRNA, but to a greater degree than for introns. Comparative analysis of putative intron positions in lincRNA genes in a range of mammalian genomes underscored the high positional conservation for some introns, which appear to be up to 100 million years old. It is therefore possible that primary and/or secondary structure of these molecules confers functional signals.

中文翻译：

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胎盘哺乳动物中长基因间非编码RNA基因的外显子进化和外显子-内含子结构

摘要

在哺乳动物中，长的基因间非编码RNA（lincRNA）基因丰富，但其功能仍然难以捉摸。可以通过与mRNA的比较分析来研究lincRNA的特征，为此它具有大量信息。高度保守的编码序列（外显子）和外显子-内含子结构是真核mRNA的一些典型进化特征。lincRNA中外显子的保守性要低得多，但比内含子要高。对一系列哺乳动物基因组中lincRNA基因中推定的内含子位置的比较分析强调了某些内含子的高度位置保守性，这些内含子似乎已有1亿年的历史了。因此，这些分子的一级和/或二级结构可能会赋予功能信号。