title: The E-class PPR protein MEF3 of Arabidopsis thaliana can also function in mitochondrial RNA editing with an additional DYW domain.
abstract: In plants, RNA editing is observed in mitochondria and plastids, changing selected C nucleotides into Us in both organelles. We here identify the PPR (pentatricopeptide repeat) protein MEF3 (mitochondrial editing factor 3) of the E domain PPR subclass by genetic mapping of a variation between ecotypes Columbia (Col) and Landsberg erecta (Ler) in Arabidopsis thaliana to be required for a specific RNA editing event in mitochondria. The Ler variant of MEF3 differs from Col in two amino acids in repeats 9 and 10, which reduce RNA editing levels at site atp4-89 to about 50% in Ler. In a T-DNA insertion line, editing at this site is completely lost. In Vitis vinifera the gene most similar to MEF3 continues into a DYW extension beyond the common E domain. Complementation assays with various combinations of PPR and E domains from the vine and A. thaliana proteins show that the vine E region can substitute for the A. thaliana E region with or without the DYW domain. These findings suggest that the additional DYW domain does not disturb the MEF3 protein function in mitochondrial RNA editing in A. thaliana.
authors.affiliation: Molekulare Botanik, Universität Ulm, D-89069 Ulm, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniil
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Verbitskiy
authors.forename: Johannes A van der
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Merwe
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zehrmann
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Härtel
authors.forename: Mizuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takenaka
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D060146:Ecotype; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D017393:RNA Editing; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D018749:RNA, Plant; C036483:T-DNA