Plants are sessile organisms and thus more exposed to stressful environments. By changing the expression of stress related genes, plants are able to cope with stress.

 Alternative splicing (AS) of mRNA precursors is a major contributor to proteome diversity in eukaryotes. It has been shown that different abiotic stresses affect AS patterns, suggesting a functional role of  AS in stress tolerance.

The Serine/Arginine-rich proteins (SR proteins) are a conserved family of splicing regulators in eukaryotes. SR proteins are essential for AS and are themselves subjects to AS which means that they can control their own splicing.

Aim: To characterize SR proteins in the SR subfamily of Physcomitrella patens and study the change in alternative splicing after exposure to stress.