Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2012, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6): 581-593.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1259.2012.00581

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RNA Editing Sites in Chloroplast Protein-coding Genes in Leaf White Mutant of Triticum aestivum

Likun Deng, Yan Li, Jianing Yu*   

  1. College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710062, China
  • Received:2012-01-16 Revised:2012-04-11 Online:2012-11-01 Published:2012-09-04
  • Contact: Jianing Yu
  • Supported by:

    National key basic research development program

Abstract: RNA editing is a post-transcriptional process and mainly occurs in higher plant organelles. Lacking RNA editing in some plants can cause albino or yellow leaves. We investigated RNA editing in 14 protein-coding genes from the chloroplast genome of Triticum aestivum Aibian 1 and the wheat leaf-stage albino mutant FA85. We found 26 editing sites in these genes. The two plants significantly differed in editing efficiency of 5 partial editing events. The 5 sites include the phosphoenylpyruvate (PEP) genes rpoC2, rpoA and rpoB, and 3 of them are predicted to change the secondary protein structure. We further analyzed the transcriptional pattern of chloroplast genes that depend on PEP, on nuclear export protein (NEP) and on both PEP and NEP. The mRNA levels of chloroplast genes, except for psbA and clpP, were lower in the mutant than wild-type leaves. The wheat leaf-stage albino phenotype may be attributed to a decrease in efficiency of the 5 editing sites and alteration of transcript level of some chloroplast genes.