Distant sequences determine 5' end formation of cox3 transcripts in Arabidopsis thaliana ecotype C24

The genomic environments and the transcripts of the mitochondrial cox3 gene are investigated in three Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes. While the proximate 5' sequences up to nucleotide position -584, the coding regions and the 3' flanking regions are identical in Columbia (Col), C24 and Landsberg erecta (Ler), genomic variation is detected in regions further upstream. In the mitochondrial DNA of Col, a 1790 bp fragment flanked by a nonanucleotide direct repeat is present beyond position -584 with respect to the ATG. While in Ler only part of this insertion is conserved, this sequence is completely absent in C24, except for a single copy of the nonanucleotide direct repeat. Northern hybridization reveals identical major transcripts in the three ecotypes, but identifies an additional abundant 60 nt larger mRNA species in C24. The extremities of the most abundant mRNA species are identical in the three ecotypes. In C24, an extra major 5' end is abundant. This terminus and the other major 5' ends are located in identical sequence regions. Inspection of Atcox3 transcripts in C24/Col hybrids revealed a female inheritance of the mRNA species with the extra 5' terminus. Thus, a mitochondrially encoded factor determines the generation of an extra 5' mRNA end.