RNA splicing - 2026 ACF Regionals

Question

A 2015 study by Singh et al. found that HIV-1 prefers integration into genes where transcription and this other downstream process are both highly active. For 10 points each:

[10m] Name this process that involves the assembly of U1 to U6 snRNPs (“snurps”) into its namesake complex. HIV-1 hijacks host machinery to perform this process using four donor and seven acceptor sites.

ANSWER: RNA splicing [or word forms; accept alternative splicing; accept minor or major spliceosome assembly]

[10e] Early, unspliced HIV-1 transcripts are transported out of this organelle after Rev proteins bind exportin and Ran-GTP. Splicing factors are concentrated in Cajal bodies found in this organelle, which stores genomic DNA.

ANSWER: cellular nucleus [or cellular nuclei]

[10h] HIV-1 also evades this pathway by sequestering UPF1, a core component of its SURF complex. mRNA splicing errors are corrected by this pathway, which is triggered by the retention of exon-exon junction complexes.

ANSWER: nonsense-mediated decay [or NMD; prompt on mRNA decay; prompt on mRNA surveillance; reject “non-stop decay”]

Back to bonuses

Summary


California (North)	Main Site	Y	3	10.00	100%	0%	0%
California (South)	Main Site	Y	4	15.00	100%	50%	0%
Florida	Main Site	Y	3	10.00	100%	0%	0%
Great Lakes	Main Site	Y	4	10.00	75%	25%	0%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	9	12.22	89%	33%	0%
Midwest	Main Site	Y	9	12.22	100%	11%	11%
Northeast	Main Site	Y	6	16.67	100%	67%	0%
Overflow	Main Site	Y	4	10.00	100%	0%	0%
South Central	Main Site	Y	2	10.00	50%	50%	0%
Southeast	Main Site	Y	7	11.43	100%	14%	0%
UK	Main Site	Y	6	15.00	100%	33%	17%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	8	15.00	100%	38%	13%
Upstate NY	Main Site	Y	4	10.00	100%	0%	0%

Data


Berkeley B	Berkeley A	0	10	0	10
Berkeley C	Berkeley D	0	10	0	10
Stanford A	Stanford B	0	10	0	10
UCLA A	UCSD B	10	10	0	20
UCLA B	UC Santa Barbara	10	10	0	20
UCSD A	UC Irvine	0	10	0	10
Arizona State	UCSD C	0	10	0	10
Central Florida C	Central Florida B	0	10	0	10
Florida A	Florida B	0	10	0	10
Central Florida A	Florida C	0	10	0	10
James Madison B	Duke	0	10	0	10
James Madison A	NC State B	0	10	0	10
Virginia Tech B	Liberty A	10	10	0	20
North Carolina A	Liberty B	10	10	0	20
Virginia Tech A	South Carolina B	0	10	0	10
North Carolina C	VCU	0	10	0	10
Virginia	North Carolina B	0	0	0	0
Liberty C	Wake Forest	0	10	0	10
William and Mary	NC State A	10	10	0	20
Northwestern B	Chicago B	0	10	0	10
Illinois A	Chicago C	10	10	10	30
Chicago D	Notre Dame A	0	10	0	10
Northwestern D	Chicago E	0	10	0	10
Chicago A	Illinois B	0	10	0	10
Indiana B	Indiana C	0	10	0	10
Notre Dame B	Northwestern C	0	10	0	10
Indiana A	Purdue A	0	10	0	10
Purdue B	Illinois C	0	10	0	10
MIT	Bowdoin A	10	10	0	20
Harvard A	Bowdoin B	10	10	0	20
Brandeis B	Brandeis A	0	10	0	10
Brown	Southern Connecticut State	10	10	0	20
Harvard B	Dartmouth A	0	10	0	10
Yale	Dartmouth B	10	10	0	20
Iowa State	Carleton College	0	10	0	10
Claremont	Missouri A	0	10	0	10
Washington A	Minnesota A	0	10	0	10
Washington B	Missouri B	0	10	0	10
Texas A	Texas A&M A	10	10	0	20
Texas B	Murray State A	0	0	0	0
Tennessee A	Alabama B	0	10	0	10
Tennessee B	Bruin	0	10	0	10
Georgia Tech C	Louisville B	10	10	0	20
Georgia Tech D	Georgia Tech B	0	10	0	10
WashU B	Louisville A	0	10	0	10
Mississipi State	Alabama A	0	10	0	10
WashU A	Sewanee	0	10	0	10
Birmingham	Oxford C	0	10	0	10
Cambridge A	Southampton B	10	10	10	30
Edinburgh A	Cardiff	10	10	0	20
Imperial B	Montpellier	0	10	0	10
Southampton A	Warwick A	0	10	0	10
Warwick B	Manchester	0	10	0	10
Catholic	Columbia A	0	10	0	10
Columbia B	John Jay	10	10	0	20
Johns Hopkins A	Rutgers A	10	10	10	30
Swarthmore	Maryland B	10	10	0	20
NYU A	NYU B	0	10	0	10
Maryland A	NYU C	0	10	0	10
Maryland C	Rutgers B	0	10	0	10
Georgetown	Vassar	0	10	0	10
Michigan A	Pittsburgh	10	10	0	20
Ohio State B	Michigan C	0	0	0	0
Ohio State A	Michigan B	0	10	0	10
Michigan State	Ohio State C	0	10	0	10
Penn State	Binghamton B	0	10	0	10
Cornell B	Cornell C	0	10	0	10
Binghamton A	RIT	0	10	0	10
Cornell A	Rochester	0	10	0	10