Many transcribed regions of the Onchocerca volvulus genome contain the spliced leader sequence of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Abstract Genomic DNAs of the related parasitic nematodes Onchocerca volvulus and Dirofilariae immitis, and a cDNA library of O. volvulus, were examined for the presence of the 22-nucleotide spliced leader (SL) found at the 5' ends of 10 to 15% of the mRNAs in the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. As in C. elegans, genes for the SL RNA are linked to the repetitive 5S rRNA genes of O. volvulus and D. immitis, but unlike C. elegans, they are in the same orientation as the 5S rRNA genes within the repeat unit. In O. volvulus the SL sequence is also encoded at more than 30 additional genomic locations and occurs at interior sites within many transcripts. Sequence determinations of four different cDNAs of O. volvulus, each containing an internal copy of the SL within a conserved 25mer, and one corresponding genomic DNA clone indicate that this sequence is not trans spliced onto these RNAs, but is encoded within the genes. The RNAs of two of these cDNAs appear to be developmentally regulated, since they occur in adult O. volvulus but were not detected in the infective L3 stage larvae. In contrast, actin mRNAs are present at all developmental stages, and at least one actin mRNA species contains a trans-spliced 5' SL. The internal locations of the SL in various transcripts and its perfect sequence conservation among parasitic and free-living nematodes argues that it serves specific, and perhaps multiple, functions for these organisms.