Relaxed transcription in Arabidopsis mitochondria is counterbalanced by RNA stability control mediated by polyadenylation and polynucleotide phosphorylase.

ABSTRACT: Plant mitochondrial genomes are extraordinarily large and complex compared to their animal counterparts, due to the presence of large noncoding regions. Multiple promoters are common for plant mitochondrial genes, and transcription exhibits little or no modulation. Mature functional RNAs are produced through various posttranscriptional processes, and control of RNA stability has a major impact on RNA abundance. This control involves polyadenylation which targets RNA for degradation by polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase). Here, we have analyzed polyadenylated RNA fragments from Arabidopsis plants down-regulated for PNPase (PNP- plants). Because of their polyadenylated status and the accumulation of the corresponding RNA in PNP- versus wild-type plants, these sequences represent mitochondr

SUBMITTER: Holec S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1430307 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature