The mat-r open reading frame is transcribed from a non-canonical promoter and contains an internal promoter to co-transcribe exons nad1e and nad5III in wheat mitochondria.

The expression of the mat-r locus (mat-r-nad1e-nad5III) was studied in wheat mitochondria. Transcription initiation sites were mapped by S1 protection, primer extension and capping experiments. Two different transcription initiation sites were found. One, non-canonical promoter of low expression level generates a transcript containing the complete mat-r open reading frame (orf), suggesting that this form is the maturase-reverse transcriptase mRNA. A second transcription initiation site, found within the coding region of the mat-r orf, directs the transcription of an abundant co-transcript containing the carboxy-terminal region of the mat-r orf, exon e of the nad1 gene, exon III of the nad5 gene and their respective trains-introns. The co-transcript promoter carries the consensus motif of plant mitochondrial promoters. Analysis of transcript sequences reveals the presence of editing sites in analogous positions in both nad1e and nad5III trans-introns, suggesting that RNA editing is necessary for the trans-splicing process.