Splicing Graphs - DAGs on Genes

Palestrante: Michael Sammeth, UFRJ / Instituto de Biofisica Carlos Chagas Filho.

Data: 16 de setembro de 2015, 15h

Local: Campus Gragoatá, Bloco H, Sala 409

Resumo: Modern biology has overcome traditional paradigms that organism complexity is determined by the number of genes found in its DNA repertoire. A good example is the human genome, which indeed harbors relatively few genes more than the DNA of worms or flies. However, genes in more complex organisms often exhibit multiple forms in which they can appear, and the expression of a specific gene form is governed mainly by a process termed *alternative splicing* (AS). The molecular mechanisms behind AS are complex, and it is an ambitious goal of genomics to advance in the understanding how this fundamental process is controlled. Alternatively spliced gene structures span DAGs for which the term *splicing graphs* has been coined. A first question was how to decompose these DAGs into subgraphs that represent so-called *events*, atomary units of AS that exhibit the same structure that later on form the basis of systematic investigations about the driving mechanisms. Furthermore, recent advances in sequencing technologies allow to color splicing graphs by quantitative measures, which in the end enable us to derive estimates about the number of molecules by which each AS form of a gene is present in a certain cell. In the talk, I will revise examples for the current models and future challenges in the application of splicing graphs.