Did RNA editing in plant organellar genomes originate under natural selection or through genetic drift?

ABSTRACT:

Background

The C<-->U substitution types of RNA editing have been observed frequently in organellar genomes of land plants. Although various attempts have been made to explain why such a seemingly inefficient genetic mechanism would have evolved, no satisfactory explanation exists in our view. In this study, we examined editing patterns in chloroplast genomes of the hornwort Anthoceros formosae and the fern Adiantum capillus-veneris and in mitochondrial genomes of the angiosperms Arabidopsis thaliana, Beta vulgaris and Oryza sativa, to gain an understanding of the question of how RNA editing originated.

Results

We found that 1) most editing sites were distributed at the 2nd and 1st codon positions, 2) editing affected codons that resulted in larger hydrophobicity and molecul

SUBMITTER: Jobson RW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2584032 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature