Abstract
In Podospora anserina the phenomenon of senescence was previously shown to be correlated with the presence of senescence-specific circular DNAs (senDNAs), resulting from the amplification of distinct regions (α, β, γ and ε) of the mitochondrial chromosome. The β region gives rise to senDNAs with variable sizes, but sharing a 1-kb common sequence. Here, we present a molecular analysis of five β senDNAs. We have determined the nucleotide sequence around the circularization site of each senDNA monomer. In two cases, the presence of a tRNA gene, very close to the 3′ end of the monomer, has been observed. This suggests that some β senDNAs could be generated via a reverse transcription step. We have furthermore shown that the β sen DNAs produce specific transcripts which undergo normal processing of their introns. We propose that a transcription start site, located in the β common region, is involved in mitochondrial replication allowing the amplification of the β senDNAs.
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Communicated by K. Wolf
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Jamet-Vierny, C., Shechter, E. Senescence-specific mitochondrial DNA molecules in P. anserina: evidence for transcription and normal processing of the RNA. Curr Genet 25, 538–544 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351675
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00351675