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Updated: Mar 7, 2026

Discrimintion and Mapping of the Primary and Processed Transcripts in Maize Mitochondrion Using a Circular RT-PCR-based Strategy
Published on: July 29, 2019
In Arabidopsis thaliana distinct alleles encoding mitochondrial RNA PROCESSING FACTOR 4 support the generation of
Katrin Stoll1, Christian Jonietz1, Sarah Schleicher1
1Institut Molekulare Botanik, Universität Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany.
Abstract:
In plant mitochondria, the 5' ends of many transcripts are generated post-transcriptionally. We show that the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein RNA PROCESSING FACTOR 4 (RPF4) supports the generation of extra 5' ends of ccmB transcripts in Landsberg erecta (Ler) and a number of other Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes. RPF4 was identified in Ler applying a forward genetic approach supported by complementation studies of ecotype Columbia (Col), which generates the Ler-type extra ccmB 5' termini only after the introduction of the RPF4 allele from Ler. Studies with chimeric RPF4 proteins composed of various parts of the RPF4 proteins from Ler and Col identified differences in the N-terminal and central PPR motifs that explain ecotype-specific variations in ccmB processing. These results fit well with binding site predictions in ccmB transcripts based on the known determinants of nucleotide base recognition by PPR motifs.
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