A research team led by Dr. Zhang Yangyong from the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, collaborated with a team led by Professor from the College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University to publish a paper in the January issue of Horticulture Research, which first revealed the molecular mechanism of a nuclear-localized P-type PPR protein BoYgl-2 in regulating chloroplast RNA C-to-U editing in cabbage.

 

The researchers first discovered that the RNA C-U editing efficiency and expression levels of several chloroplast genes were significantly reduced in a yellowish-green mutant cabbage. Through forward genetic screening, they identified that the PPR protein BoYgl-2 was completely missing in the mutant. Functional validation and chloroplast RNA editing analysis results showed that overexpressing BoYgl-2 could restore the RNA C-U editing efficiency and expression levels of chloroplast genes in the mutant, which in turn promoted chlorophyll biosynthesis and growth and development, restoring the leaf color phenotype. 

 

This study first uncovered an important mechanism of nuclear-localized PPR proteins in regulating chloroplast RNA C-U editing and chlorophyll biosynthesis.