The apple mitochondrial atp9 gene: RNA editing and co‐transcription with exons a and b of the nad5 gene

Abstract
We have isolated and characterized a transcribed segment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from apple (cv. ‘Delicious’) that contains the atp9 gene, and exons a and b of the nad5 gene. Analysis of the cDNA of the atp9 revealed 8 C to U transcript editing events resulting in 7 amino acid changes, and a new stop codon that eliminates 8 carboxy‐terminal residues, compared to the genomic sequence. The transcription patterns of atp9, and exons a and b of nad5 share RNA species, indicating that these sequences are part of the same transcriptional unit.