[Advance in the study of PPR gene family]

PPR (pentatricopeptide repeats) gene family, one of the largest gene families discovered in plants, is characterized by tandem arrays of pentatricopeptide repeats, which play essential roles in mitochondria or chloroplasts, probably via binding to organellar transcripts. In this review, we summarized the current status in the study of PPR family, including the structure character of PPR gene, the distribution in the chromosome arms and other genomes, as well as the biological function of PPR gene.