| Pre-mRNA splicing is tightly controlled by posttranslational modifications, many of which are added and removed dynamically during the splicing reaction. One of these modifications is methylation of the amino acid arginine, which occurs on components of the spliceosome, as well as accessory splicing factors. Here, we have examined the effect of protein arginine methylation on pre-mRNA splicing in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protein arginine methyltransferase Hmt1 promotes efficient splicing, specifically of non-consensus splice sites, by controlling interactions between early splicing factors and the SR-/hnRNP-like protein Npl3. We have made preliminary efforts to understand the mechanism behind this effect, and to attempt to elucidate the regulatory mechanisms which may be controlling it. |
