A restorer‐of‐fertility like pentatricopeptide repeat gene directs ribonucleolytic processing within the coding sequence of rps3‐rpl16 and orf240a mitochondrial transcripts in Arabidopsis thaliana. (12th March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Arnal, Nadège; Quadrado, Martine; Simon, Matthieu; Mireau, Hakim
• Is Part Of: Plant journal. Volume 78:Number 1(2014:Apr.)
• Page Start: 134
• Page End: 145
• Publication Date: 2014-03-12
• Subjects: Plant molecular biology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12463
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7412

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="tpj12463-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>The pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins represent a large family of RNA‐binding proteins that have many roles in post‐transcriptional RNA processes within plant organelles. Among the PPR proteins that target plant mitochondria, the restorer‐of‐fertility (Rf) proteins are characterized by their inhibitory action on mitochondrion‐localized cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes in various crop species. Close homologs to known Rfs from radish, petunia, and rice can be identified in most higher plant species and these proteins define the recognized subgroup of Rf‐like (RFL) PPR proteins. In this paper we describe the function of the <italic>RFL9</italic> gene from <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>, and show that it is associated with ribonucleolytic cleavages within the coding sequences of <italic>rps3</italic><italic>‐</italic><italic>rpl16</italic> and <italic>orf240a</italic> mitochondrial transcripts in the Col‐0 accession. <italic>RFL9</italic> therefore represents an Rf‐like <italic>PPR</italic> gene that has the potential to compromise the function of an essential mitochondrial gene and whose function is also associated with a mitochondrial <italic>orf</italic> sharing significant homology with a proven CMS‐causing <italic>orf</italic>. We observe that <italic>RFL9</italic> is active in only a few Arabidopsis accessions genetically close to Col‐0, which supports the idea that the genetic fixation of this gene represents a regional event in the recent evolution of Arabidopsis. Additionally, <italic>RFL9</italic> counts among the <italic>RFL</italic> genes that are probably controlled by short regulatory RNAs, and our results provides a potential explanation for such control, which in the case of <italic>RFL9</italic> might have evolved to limit its detrimental effect on <italic>rps3</italic> expression.</p> </abstract>