Fine structure of OXI1, the mitochondrial gene coding for subunit II of yeast cytochrome c oxidase

Summary

Genetic and biochemical studies have been performed with 110 mutants which are defective in cytochrome a·a₃ and map in the regions on mit DNA previously designated OXI1 and OXI2. With 88 mutations allocated to OXI1 fine structure mapping was achieved by the analysis of rho ⁻ deletions. The order of six groups of mutational sites (A 1, A2, B 1, B2, C 1, C2) thus determined was confirmed by oxi _i x oxi _j recombination analysis.

Analysis of mitochondrially translated polypeptides of oxil mutants by SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis reveals three classes of mutant patterns: i) similar to wild-tpye (19 mutants); ii) lacking SU II of cytochrome c oxidase (53 mutants); iii) lacking this subunit and exhibiting a single new polypeptide of lower M_r (16 mutants). Mutations of each of these classes are scattered over the OXI1 region without any detectable clustering; this is consistent with the assumption that all oxil mutations studied are within the same gene.

New polypeptides observed in oxil mutants of class iii) vary in Mr in the range from 10,500 to 33,000. Those of M_r 17,000 to 33,000 are shown to be antigenically related to subunit II of cytochrome c oxidase. Colinearity is established between the series of new polypeptides of M_r values increasing from 10,500 to 31,500 and the order of the respective mutational sites on the map, e.g. mutations mapping in A 1 generate the smallest and mutations mapping in C2 the largest mutant fragments.

From these data we conclude that i) all mutations allocated to the OXI1 region are in the same gene; ii) this gene codes for subunit II of cytochrome c oxidase; iii) the direction of translation is from CAP to 0X12. Out of 19 mutants allocated to OXI2 three exhibit a new polypeptide; these and all the other oxi2 mutants lack subunit III of cytochrome oxidase. This result provides preliminary evidence that the OXI2 region harbours the structural gene for this subunit III.