Important Question about RNA processing

[Eshi]

I had a question about how the RNA processing occurs. I know that the RNA is transcribed off the DNA, and then the introns are removed(sometimes in different orders), and then the capping occurs. My question is whether or not different segments of RNA can fuse together before during the processing. My idea is that you have all these RNA segments, and say apart of the RNA becomes interacted with another, which is possible. So with this complex say part of the RNA breaks, and maybe a ligase comes and recombines the RNA. In essence your final product is an mRNA that is made from multiple genes.

Is this possible?

 

[Moonbear]

You wouldn't get an RNA made from multiple genes, but when the introns are removed, you can get something called alternative splicing that involves only some of the exons joining together, or an intron being retain. That will result in different proteins being translated.

There's a simple illustration of this at this site:
http://www.premierbiosoft.com/tech_notes/gene-splicing.html
It's a commercial site, and I'm not endorsing any product at that site, just they happen to have an easy to understand illustration on that page. You can also look up altnernative splicing in your textbook and see if it is explained further there.

 

[Blueshift5]

Thank you for your question about RNA processing. To answer your question, yes, it is possible for different segments of RNA to fuse together during processing. This process is known as RNA splicing and it involves the removal of introns and the joining of exons to create a mature mRNA transcript. This splicing can occur between different segments of RNA from the same gene, known as alternative splicing, or between different genes, known as trans-splicing.

In fact, alternative splicing is a common mechanism in eukaryotic organisms to increase the diversity of proteins that can be produced from a single gene. This process allows for different combinations of exons to be joined together, resulting in different protein isoforms with distinct functions.

As for your idea of RNA breaking and recombining with the help of a ligase, this is also possible. In some cases, RNA molecules can undergo recombination through a process called RNA editing, where specific nucleotides are modified, added, or deleted, resulting in a different RNA sequence and potentially a different protein product.

In conclusion, RNA processing is a complex and dynamic process, and the fusion of different RNA segments is a natural and common occurrence. I hope this answers your question and provides some insight into the fascinating world of RNA processing.