Reverse U-to-C editing exceeds C-to-U RNA editing in some ferns – a monilophyte-wide comparison of chloroplast and mitochondrial RNA editing suggests independent evolution of the two processes in both organelles

摘要

BackgroundRNA editing by C-to-U conversions is nearly omnipresent in land plant chloroplasts and mitochondria, where it mainly serves to reconstitute conserved codon identities in the organelle mRNAs. Reverse U-to-C RNA editing in contrast appears to be restricted to hornworts, some lycophytes, and ferns (monilophytes). A well-resolved monilophyte phylogeny has recently emerged and now allows to trace the side-by-side evolution of both types of pyrimidine exchange editing in the two endosymbiotic organelles.