Whole Discrimination of RNA Editing Sites in Chloroplast Transcripts of <em>Chelidonium majus</em>: Implications for Analysis of Functional Protein and Chemicals

RNA editing sites and functional analysis were firstly predicted and verified in the chloroplast genes of Chelidonium majus. The results found that nine genes have the same number of editing sites, while 40 genes have different numbers of editing sites. There are 28 types of codons and 13 types of amino acid mutations in the chloroplast genes of C. majus, among which serine mutations to leucine (S&rarr;L) have the highest number. All the molecular weight, extinction coefficients, and hydropathicity are increasing, while the value of theoretical isoelectric points (PI) are decreasing or constant after RNA editing. The five types of proteins, including ndhF, ndhD, ndhB, psaA, and psaB have more than 11 transmembrane regions, as well as they have the most conserved domains and open reading frames (ORFs). The number of ORFs by each gene is decreasing, whereas the length of ORFs is becoming more longer. The signal peptide was found within one protein of the petA gene. The rpoB protein had the approximate three-dimensional domain of Ricin-type beta-trefoil lectin with one more increase of conserved domain through mutation. After experiment validation, the two new mutated proteins were found within the rpoB protein. These results provide a solid basis for exploring functional expression regulation and the origin of evolution.