It is well established that extensively interacting mRNA-associated processes in eukaryotes are crucial for the accurate processing of nascent transcripts. What is less clear—and almost entirely unexplored—however, is whether these interactions affect gene structure.
Drawing from a wealth of knowledge on Drosophila melanogaster genetics, molecular and cell biology, and biochemistry, we generated and tested three hypotheses as to how mRNA-associated processes might influence gene architecture. Our findings suggest that the interactions between capping, splicing, cleavage/polyadenylation, and telescripting may impose significant constraints on gene structure. Our study and its results offer an expandable framework for future cross-disciplinary investigations.