The fission yeast MTREC and EJC orthologs ensure the maturation of meiotic transcripts during meiosis

Both pFal1 and Red5 are essential for meiotic splicing of rec8⁺ transcripts. (A) qRT-PCR using primers flanking the exon–exon junction of an early meiotic gene (rec8⁺) and a nonmeiotic gene (idh2⁺) of indicated strains during mitosis (vegetative growth) or meiosis. Expression was normalized against act1⁺ and reported relative to vegetative wild-type values (WT = 1). (B) Semiquantitative RT-PCR with primers spanning two adjacent exons of rec8⁺ or multiple introns of sir2⁺. The ratios of spliced to unspliced forms of rec8⁺ transcripts were calculated using the splicing index. (U) Unspliced, (S) spliced.