2026/06/01 by Yuange Duan, Qiuhua Xie, Jiajia Yang +2 · 1 voice
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #RNA regulation and disease #Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology #CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
paper · doi:10.1002/mlf2.70084
openalex publication_date 2026/06/01 · openalex created_date 2026/06/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
On the origin, evolution, and maintenance of RNA editing" in Nucleic Acids Research 1 , responding to a review by Bendich and Rogers in the same journal, entitled "The biological and evolutionary consequences of competition between DNA sequences that benefit the cell and DNA sequences that benefit themselves" 2 .In our response, we raised concerns about their view that eukaryotic RNA editing serves as a mechanism for mobile genetic element (MGE) defense and presented evidence that does not support their theory.Indeed, our commentary deviated slightly from the broader scope of their original article.While their focus was more extensive, we only addressed the issue of RNA editing.Additionally, one may argue that we appeared not to provide substantial evidence to refute Bendich and Rogers' hypothesis that "eukaryotic RNA editing originates from bacterial RNA editing system" 2 .We focused solely on the current behavior of eukaryotic RNA editing and did not address their novel perspective of "prokaryotic origin."Here, we will further clarify our position.We demonstrate from both logical and objective perspectives that the conclusion proposed by Bendich and Rogers, that eukaryotic RNA editing originates from prokaryotic RNA editing system, seems untenable.We do not deny the overall quality and elegant writing of their article, but we appeal that reaching a correct conclusion requires not only solid facts/observations but also meticulous logical reasoning.Notably, in this article, we use the neutral term "bacterial/prokaryotic RNA editing origin" to describe Bendich and Rogers' view.In their original article, although they did not explicitly propose a direct phage restriction by an adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (RADAR)-to-eukaryote trajectory, their wording implies this interpretation because the only bacterial/prokaryotic RNA editing system mentioned in connection with anti-MGE functions is the RADAR (a two-gene cassette) defense island 2 .Nevertheless, to avoid a potential straw-man framing, we describe their position more generally as the "broad prokaryotic-origin hypothesis" and try to cite the "prokaryotic/bacterial RNA editing system" instead of the "RADAR defense island.