Abstract
A posttranscriptional modification (C-to-U) at specific positions of plant mitochondrial mRNA leads to changes in the amino acid sequence as well as to the emergence of novel initiation or termination sites. This phenomenon, named RNA editing, has been described for several mitochondrial genes from different plant sources. We have found recently that RNA editing of the ATP synthase subunit 9 (atp9) mRNA involves eight changes including the creation of a new stop codon. In this article, we describe an in vitro system devised to follow the editing of wheat mitochondrial atp9 mRNA. Nonedited mRNA was obtained to serve as substrate for this reaction by in vitro transcription of the corresponding gene with T7 RNA polymerase. The source of conversion factor(s) was a soluble fraction obtained from purified wheat mitochondria lysed with salt and detergent. Edited RNA molecules were detected by hybridization with an end-labeled synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide probe complementary to a short region containing four editing events. Optimal conditions for the in vitro RNA editing reaction were determined. The reaction is sensitive to high temperature and protease digestion. Pretreatment with micrococcal nuclease decreased RNA editing activity in the mitochondrial extract, suggesting that a nucleic acid is necessary for the enzymatic reactions. Analysis of the edited mRNA showed that the in vitro reaction led to the same products as those observed in vivo.