Rtf2 is Important for Replication Fork Barrier Activity of RTS1 via Splicing of Rtf1 [cDNA-Seq]

This study investigated the role Rtf2 plays on the replication fork barrier (RFB) activity of RTS1 in S. pombe. We confirm Rtf2 is important for the full barrier activity of the RTS1-Rtf1 RFB. We show that Rtf2 does not enact its enhancing effect on RTS1 RFB activity via binding to Region A of RTS1, but instead we find it to be closely associated with several splicing factors. Analysis of cells deleted for rtf2 by cDNA-Seq reveal splicing defects specifically effecting intron retention, including for the Rtf1 transcript. We show that intron retention within rtf1 is responsible for the reduced barrier activity of RTS1 when rtf2 is deleted. This study reveals Rtf2 to be an important factor for maintaining efficient splicing within the cell. Overall design: Full length cDNA libraries were made from isolated mRNA from S. pombe and sequenced using Nanopore Technology to analyse changes to splicing