Abstract
Introns can increase cytoplasmic mRNA levels through an as yet poorly understood mechanism known as intron mediated enhancement (IME). IME has been well studied in plants and observed, but not thoroughly explained, in other model organisms such as C. elegans. The location of the first intron of the C. elegans gene unc-54 and a set of three synthetic introns were varied within a gfp reporter construct. These variations revealed a position-dependent effect on expression. The introns boosted protein expression levels wherever they were placed within the coding transcript, but they had an additional stimulatory effect on RNA transcription when placed near the 5’ end of the reporter construct.