RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 An Arabidopsis long noncoding RNA modulates the transcriptome through interactions with a network of splicing factors JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2020.01.03.894055 DO 10.1101/2020.01.03.894055 A1 Richard Rigo A1 Jérémie Bazin A1 Natali Romero-Barrios A1 Michaël Moison A1 Leandro Lucero A1 Aurélie Christ A1 Moussa Benhamed A1 Thomas Blein A1 Stéphanie Huguet A1 Céline Charon A1 Martin Crespi A1 Federico Ariel YR 2020 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/04/2020.01.03.894055.abstract AB Alternative splicing (AS) is a major source of transcriptome and proteome diversity in higher organisms. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have emerged as regulators of AS through a range of molecular mechanisms. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the AS regulators NSRa and b, which affect auxin-driven lateral root formation, can interact with the ALTERNATIVE SPLICING COMPETITOR (ASCO) lncRNA. Here, we analyzed the effect of the knockdown and overexpression of ASCO at genome-wide level and found a high number of deregulated and differentially spliced genes, related to flagellin responses and biotic stress. In agreement, roots from ASCO-knocked down plants are more sensitive to flagellin. Surprisingly, only a minor subset of genes overlapped with the AS defects of the nsra/b double mutant. Using biotin-labelled oligonucleotides for RNA-mediated ribonucleoprotein purification, we found that ASCO binds to the highly conserved core spliceosome component PRP8a. ASCO deregulation impairs the recognition of specific flagellin-related transcripts by PRP8a and SmD1b, another spliceosome component, suggesting that ASCO function regulates AS through the interaction with multiple splicing factors. Hence, lncRNAs may interact in a dynamic network with many splicing factors to modulate transcriptome reprogramming in eukaryotes.