RNA Editing: Evolutionary Implications

Michael W Gray, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Published online: May 2005

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0003863

The term ‘RNA editing’ describes a variety of mechanistically unrelated biochemical activities that alter RNA molecules after transcription by addition, deletion or substitution of nucleotides. A three-stage model, illustrated by specific examples, can explain in a general way how RNA-editing systems might arise and become fixed.

Keywords: RNA editing; evolution; coevolution; neutral drift; selection

Figure 1. Editing of a portion of the messenger RNA encoding subunit 2 of cytochrome oxidase (COX2). (a) Insertional editing by U addition in the mitochondria of Trypanosoma brucei, a kinetoplastid protozoon. (b) Substitutional editing involving C-to-U changes in the mitochondria of wheat, a flowering plant. Nucleotides added (in a) or changed (in b) by editing are shown in green. Red arrows indicate differences between the nucleotide sequences of the gene and the corresponding edited RNA. Differences between the amino acid sequences inferred from the gene (‘unedited’) and from the mature mRNA (‘edited’) are shown in blue bold.
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 References
    Chan L, Chang BH-J, Nakamuta M, Li W-H and Smith LC (1997) Apobec-1 and apolipoprotein B mRNA editing. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1345: 11–26.
    Covello PS and Gray MW (1993) On the evolution of RNA editing. Trends in Genetics 9: 265–268.
    Gerber AP and Keller W (1999) An adenosine deaminase that generates inosine at the wobble position of tRNAs. Science 286: 1146–1149.
    Gerber A, Grosjean H, Melcher T and Keller W (1998) Tad1p, a yeast tRNA-specific adenosine deaminase, is related to the mammalian pre-mRNA editing enzymes ADAR1 and ADAR2. EMBO Journal 17: 4780–4789.
    book Gott JM and Visomirski-Robic LM (1998) "RNA editing in Physarum mitochondria". In: Grosjean H and Benne R (eds) Modification and Editing of RNA pp. 395–411. Washington DC: ASM Press.
    Gray MW and Covello PS (1993) RNA editing in plant mitochondria and chloroplasts. FASEB Journal 7: 64–71.
    book Hajduk SL and Sabatini RS (1998) "Mitochondrial mRNA editing in kinetoplastid protozoa". In: Grosjean H and Benne R (eds) Modification and Editing of RNA pp. 377–393. Washington DC: ASM Press.
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    book Marchfelder A, Binder S, Brennicke A and Knoop V (1998) "RNA editing by base conversion in plant organellar RNAs". In: Grosjean H and Benne R (eds) Modification and Editing of RNA pp. 307–323. Washington DC: ASM Press.
    Navaratnam N, Bhattacharya S, Fujino T, Patel D, Jarmuz A and Scott J (1995) Evolutionary origins of apoB mRNA editing: catalysis by a cytidine deaminase that has acquired a novel RNA-binding motif at its active site. Cell 81: 187–195.
    book Price DH and Gray MW (1998) "Editing of tRNA". In: Grosjean H and Benne R (eds) Modification and Editing of RNA pp. 289–305. Washington DC: ASM Press.
    book Rueter SM and Emeson RB (1998) "Adenosine-to-inosine conversion in mRNA". In: Grosjean H and Benne R (eds) Modification and Editing of RNA pp. 343–361. Washington DC: ASM Press.
 Further Reading
    book Bock R (2001) "RNA editing in plant mitochondria and chloroplasts". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 38–60. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Cavalier-Smith T (1997) Cell and genome coevolution: facultative anaerobiosis, glycosomes and kinetoplastan RNA editing. Trends in Genetics 13: 6–9.
    book Driscoll DM and Innerarity TL (2001) "RNA editing by cytidine deamination in mammals". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 61–76. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    book Emeson RB and Singh M (2001) "RNA editing in Physarum polycephalum". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 109–138. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    book Gott JM (2001) "RNA editing in Physarum polycephalum". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 20–37. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    book Gray MW (2001) "Speculations on the origin and evolution of editing". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 160–184. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    Gray MW (2003) Diversity and evolution of mitochondrial RNA editing systems. IUBMB 55: 227–233.
    Lin S, Zhang H, Spencer DF, Norman JE and Gray MW (2002) Widespread and extensive editing of mitochondrial mRNAs in dinoflagellates. Journal of Molecular Biology 320: 727–739.
    book Simpson L (1999) "RNA editing – an evolutionary perspective". In: Gesteland R, Cech T and Atkins JF (eds) The RNA World, 2nd edn, pp. 585–608. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
    Simpson L and Maslov DA (1999) Evolution of the U-insertion/deletion RNA editing in mitochondria of kinetoplastid protozoa. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 870: 190–205.
    book Stuart KD, Panigrahi AK and Salavati R (2001) "RNA editing in kinetoplastid mitochondria". In: Bass BL (ed.) RNA Editing, pp. 1–19. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Evolutionary Genomics | Coevolution | Molecular Evolution | Protein Evolution | RNA Structure and Function | Posttranscriptional Modification | Evolution of Coding and Functional Modules | Enzymes: Structure and Action Mechanism | Nucleic Acids: Structure, Function, Metabolism
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Article Title: RNA Editing: Evolutionary Implications
 
How to Cite close
Gray, Michael W(May 2005) RNA Editing: Evolutionary Implications. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0003863]