SPECIES-SPECIFIC RNA EDITING PATTERNS IN THE MITOCHONDRIAL RPS13 TRANSCRIPTS OF OENOTHERA AND DAUCUS

Transcripts from the rps13 locus, which encodes ribosomal protein S13, in Oenothera and Daucus mitochondria are edited by several cytidine to uridine transitions in both plants. Analysis of individual cDNA clones and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified cDNA from the total mitochondrial mRNA population shows different editing patterns in the two species. Although the same genomic triplet is conserved, nucleotides altered in the mRNA of one species are not necessarily edited in the other. Individual editing sites appear to be modified to varying degrees in the mRNA populations in both plant species, indicating that completely edited transcripts constitute only a minor fraction of the rps13 mRNA molecules.