A nuclear suppressor overcomes defects in the synthesis of the chloroplast psbD gene product caused by mutations in two distinct nuclear genes of Chlamydomonas

Abstract

Mutations in two distinct nuclear genes, called NAC 1 and AC-115, of the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cause a specific and dramatic reduction in the synthesis of the chloroplast-encoded D2 polypeptide of Photosystem II. The psbD transcript which encodes the D2 protein is present in the mutant strains, but protein pulse-labeling and immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrate that the synthesis of the D2 protein does not occur normally in these cells. These phenotypes are suppressed by an extragenic nuclear suppressor isolated from a pseudorevertant of a nac 1 mutant. This suppressor is neither allele- nor gene-specific in its suppression and is able to overcome the effects of two different mutations in the NAC 1 gene, as well as a mutation in AC-115. The suppressor seems to be specific in its ability to remedy blocks in psbD mRNA translation in the chloroplast. It is not able to restore the translation of another chloroplas-encoded rRNA which is blocked by another nuclear mutation. The suppressor may identify a new nuclear gene specifically involved in the synthesis of the D2 protein in the chloroplast.