In human, the majority of protein coding genes are interrupted by dispensable intervening sequences (introns). These introns are removed by nuclear precursor (pre) mRNA splicing process to produce a mature mRNA needed for productive protein production in the cell. We are studying the splicing of minor class or U12-type introns which are spliced by U11, U12, U4atac, U5 and U6atac snRNAs. U11 snRNA binds to the 5β end or splice site of the intron by RNA-RNA base-pairing to initiate the splicing process. Our results show the functionality of the genetic mutation suppressor assay in establishing the role of U11 snRNA in nuclear pre-mRNA splicing.https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/u_poster_2012/1041/thumbnail.jp