RNA editing in metazoan mitochondria: staying fit without sex

FEBS Letters

Dörner, Marion¹  Mörl, Mario¹  Pääbo, Svante¹  Yokobori, Shin-ichi¹  Börner, G.Valentin¹ 

[1] Institute of Zoology, University of Munich, PO Box 202136, D-80021 Munich, Germany

关键词: RNA editing;    Mitochondria;    Evolution;    Müller's ratchet;    tRNA;   

DOI  :  10.1016/S0014-5793(97)00357-8

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

RNA editing subsumes a number of functionally different mechanisms which have in common that they change the nucleotide sequence of RNA transcripts such that they become different from what would conventionally be predicted from their gene sequences. RNA editing has now been found in the organelles of numerous organisms as well as in a few nuclear transcripts. Most recently, it was shown to affect tRNAs in the mitochondria of several animals. The occurrence and evolutionary persistence of RNA editing is perplexing since backmutations in the genes might be assumed rapidly to eliminate the need for ‘correction’ of the gene sequences at the post-transcriptional level. Here, we review the recent RNA editing systems discovered in animal mitochondria and propose that they have arisen as a mechanism counteracting the accumulation of mutations that occurs in asexual genetic system.

【 授权许可】

Unknown