A SILENT TRANSSPLICING SIGNAL IN THE CUTICLIN-ENCODING GENE OF THE PLANT-PARASITIC NEMATODE MELOIDOGYNE ARTIELLIA

A gene (cut-1) coding for a cuticular protein, cuticlin-1, has been is olated and sequenced in the plant parasitic nematode, Meloidogyne arti ellia. The nucleotide sequence revealed a typical eukaryotic-like orga nization, exons and introns bordered by canonical sequences. The 5' fl anking region presents nematode-specific sequence motifs, including a trans-splicing signal. Studies on the expression of this gene demonstr ated that, while in the adult females cut-1 is not expressed, the remo val of the introns occurs in the eggs. These experiments also indicate that cis-splicing precedes the processing of the 5' untranslated regi on. In no case has a trans-spliced transcript been detected.