MEF9, an E-Subclass Pentatricopeptide Repeat Protein, Is Required for an RNA Editing Event in the nad7 Transcript in Mitochondria of Arabidopsis

RNA editing in plants alters specific nucleotides from C to U in mRNAs in plastids and in mitochondria. I here characterize the nuclear gene MITOCHONDRIAL EDITING FACTOR9 (MEF9) that is required for RNA editing of the site nad7-200 in the nad7 mitochondrial mRNA in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). The MEF9 protein belongs to the E subfamily of pentatricopeptide repeat proteins and unlike the three previously identified mitochondrial editing factors MEF1 and MEF11 in Arabidopsis and OGR1 in rice (Oryza sativa) does not contain a DYW C-terminal domain. In addition, the E domain is incomplete, but seems to be functionally required, since one of the two independent EMS mutants encodes a MEF9 protein truncated by a stop codon at the beginning of the E domain. In both mutant plants premature stop codons in MEF9 inactivate RNA editing at site nad7-200. The homozygous mutant plants are viable and develop rather normally. The lack of RNA editing at site nad7-200 thus seems to be tolerated although this editing event is conserved in most plant species or the genomic sequence already codes for a T at this position, resulting in a generally conserved amino acid codon.