Identification and characterisation of RNA editing sites in chloroplast transcripts of einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum)

AbstractRNA editing is a biological process that the RNA molecule occurred base change or modification to result in the change of genetic information at the post‐transcription level, which played the vital roles in plant growth and development as well as in response to diverse stresses. To understand the composition and characteristic of chloroplast RNA editing patterns in einkorn wheat, the progenitor of wheat A subgenome, we systematically predicted and identified the RNA editing sites in plastome of three einkorn wheat species using bioinformatics analysis combined with RT‐PCR method. A total of 33 sites distributed in 15 genes, 34 in 15 genes and 33 in 14 genes were predicted in Triticum urartu, Triticum boeoticum and Triticum monococcum, respectively, all of which were C to U conversion and most of them could be validated by RNA‐seq data. Furthermore, all of the predicted editing sites were validated experimentally in T. urartu. Totally, 24 sites were found to be consistent with the prediction. The secondary structure and transmembrane domains of these five transcripts with the most abundant editing sites were further investigated. The results showed that the secondary structures of all five genes were changed, together with the transmembrane domains of ndhB were also altered as the result of editing, suggesting that RNA editing could have impact on the biological function of target genes. Finally, comparative analysis of the RNA editing patterns among Triticum species was performed to identify the conserved and species‐specific editing sites. This study reported the chloroplast RNA editing in einkorn wheat, which laid the foundation for further study on the biological function of chloroplast RNA editing in wheat, and also provided the important information to reveal the origin and evolution of wheat from the perspective of RNA editing.