Primary transcripts of ndhD of Liliaceae and Aloaceae require editing of the start and 20th codons

About 350 nucleotide sequences around the start codon of the plastid ndhD g ene were determined in six species to investigate the requirement of C to U editing of the cryptic start codons. The comparison with other sequences i n databanks showed that, in contrast to grasses and similarly to dicots, Li liaceae and Aloaceae require editing of the primary transcript to generate the AUG start codon, Primary transcripts of Liliaceae and Aloaceae also sho w a new editing site at the 59th nucleotide, which has not been described i n other plants. In some cases, transcripts showed partial editing which sug gests that the synthesis of the protein may be controlled at the level of t ranscript processing.