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A single-stranded DNA binding protein required for mitochondrial DNA replication in S. cerevisiae is homologous to E. coli SSB.

It has previously been shown that the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae becomes thermosensitive due to the inactivation of the mitochondrial DNA helicase gene, PIF1. A suppressor of this thermosensitive phenotype was isolated from a wild-type plasmid library by transforming a pif1 null strain to growth on glycerol at the non-permissive temperature. This suppressor is a nuclear gene encoding a 135 amino acid protein that is itself essential for mtDNA replication; cells lacking this gene are totally devoid of mtDNA. We therefore named this gene RIM1 for replication in mitochondria. The primary structure of the RIM1 protein is homologous to the single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) from Escherichia coli and to the mitochondrial SSB from Xenopus laevis. The mature RIM1 gene product has been purified from yeast extracts using a DNA unwinding assay dependent upon the DNA helicase activity of SV40 T-antigen. Direct amino acid sequencing of the protein reveals that RIM1 is a previously uncharacterized SSB. Antibodies against this purified protein localize RIM1 to mitochondria. The SSB encoded by RIM1 is therefore an essential component of the yeast mtDNA replication apparatus.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Replicative intermediates of ram sperm mitochondrial DNA.

Replication of mtDNA from ejaculated ram spermatozoa was demonstrated by electron microscopy. Twelve percent of mtDNA circular molecules isolated either from ram sperm cells or from rat liver mitochondria were double-forked. These replicative intermediates appeared in four distinct steps of replication: 3.9%, 21.0%, 27.8%, and 44% of the circular contour length. The biological significance of sperm mitochondrial DNA replication is discussed.

Animals↗

Cloning of two sea urchin DNA-binding proteins involved in mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription.

The cloning of the cDNA for two mitochondrial proteins involved in sea urchin mtDNA replication and transcription is reported here. The cDNA for the mitochondrial D-loop binding protein (mtDBP) from the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus has been cloned by a polymerase chain reaction-based approach. The protein displays a very high similarity with the Paracentrotus lividus homologue as it contains also the two leucine zipper-like domains which are thought to be involved in intramolecular interactions needed to expose the two DNA binding domains in the correct position for contacting DNA. The cDNA for the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA-binding protein (mtSSB) from P. lividus has been also cloned by a similar approach. The precursor protein is 146 amino acids long with a presequence of 16 residues. The deduced amino acid sequence shows the highest homology with the Xenopus laevis protein and the lowest with the Drosophila mtSSB. The computer modeling of the tertiary structure of P. lividus mtSSB shows a structure very similar to that experimentally determined for human mtSSB, with the conservation of the main residues involved in protein tetramerization and in DNA binding.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

A nuclear mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae deficient in mitochondrial DNA replication and polymerase activity.

We have isolated a thermosensitive mutant which is transformed into a population of cells devoid of mitochondrial DNA (rho 0 cells) at 35 degrees C and is deficient in mitochondrial (mt) DNA polymerase activity. A single recessive nuclear mutation (mip1) is responsible for rho 0 phenotype and mtDNA polymerase deficiency in vitro. At 25 degrees C (or 30 degrees C) a dominant suppressor mutation (SUP) masks the deficiency in vivo. The meiotic segregants (mip1 sup) which do not harbor the suppressor have a rho 0 phenotype both at 25 and 35 degrees C. They have no mtDNA polymerase activity, in contrast with MIP rho 0 mutants of mitochondrial inheritance which do exhibit mtDNA polymerase activity. In the thermosensitive mutant (mip1 SUP), the replication of mtDNA observed in vivo at 30 degrees C is completely abolished at 35 degrees C. In the meiotic segregants (mip1 sup), no mtDNA replication takes place at 30 and 35 degrees C. The synthesis of nuclear DNA is not affected. DNA polymerases may have replicative and/or repair activity. There is no evidence that mip mutants are deficient in mtDNA repair. In contrast the MIP gene product is strictly required for the replication of mtDNA and for the expression of the mtDNA polymerase activity. This enzyme might be the replicase of mtDNA.

DNA Replication↗

Size and Structure of Replicating Mitochondrial DNA in Cultured Tobacco Cells.

The BY-2 tobacco cell line was used to study the size and structure of replicating mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Approximately 70 to 90% of the newly synthesized mtDNA did not migrate during pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Moving pictures of the fluorescently labeled molecules showed that most of the immobile well-bound DNA was in structures larger than the size of the BY-2 mitochondrial genome of ~270 kb. Most of the structures appeared as complex forms with multiple DNA fibers. The sizes of the circular molecules that were also observed ranged continuously from ~20 to 560 kb without prominent size classes. Pulse-chase and mung bean nuclease experiments showed that the well-bound DNA contained single-stranded regions and was converted to linear molecules of between 50 and 150 kb. MtDNA replication in plants may be initiated by recombination events that create branched structures of multigenomic concatemers that are then processed to 50- to 150-kb subgenomic fragments.

Journal Article↗

Twinkle, the mitochondrial replicative DNA helicase, is widespread in the eukaryotic radiation and may also be the mitochondrial DNA primase in most eukaryotes.

Recently, the human protein responsible for replicative mtDNA helicase activity was identified and designated Twinkle. Twinkle has been implicated in autosomal dominant progressive external ophthalmoplegia (adPEO), a mitochondrial disorder characterized by mtDNA deletions. The Twinkle protein appears to have evolved from an ancestor shared with the bifunctional primase-helicase found in the T-odd bacteriophages. However, the question has been raised as to whether human Twinkle possesses primase activity, due to amino acid sequence divergence and absence of a zinc-finger motif thought to play an integral role in DNA binding. To date, a primase protein participating in mtDNA replication has not been identified in any eukaryote. Here we investigate the wider phylogenetic distribution of Twinkle by surveying and analyzing data from ongoing EST and genome sequencing projects. We identify Twinkle homologues in representatives from five of six major eukaryotic assemblages ("supergroups") and present the sequence of the complete Twinkle gene from two members of Amoebozoa, a supergroup of amoeboid protists at the base of the opisthokont (fungal/metazoan) radiation. Notably, we identify conserved primase motifs including the zinc finger in all Twinkle sequences outside of Metazoa. Accordingly, we propose that Twinkle likely serves as the primase as well as the helicase for mtDNA replication in most eukaryotes whose genome encodes it, with the exception of Metazoa.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Periodic expression of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA replication genes during the trypanosomatid cell cycle.

In trypanosomatids, DNA replication in the nucleus and in the single mitochondrion (or kinetoplast) initiates nearly simultaneously, suggesting that the DNA synthesis (S) phases of the nucleus and the mitochondrion are coordinately regulated. To investigate the basis for the temporal link between nuclear and mitochondrial DNA synthesis phases the expression of the genes encoding DNA ligase I, the 51 and 28 kDa subunits of replication protein A, dihydrofolate reductase and the mitochondrial type II topoisomerase were analyzed during the cell cycle progression of synchronous cultures of Crithidia fasciculata. These DNA replication genes were all expressed periodically, with peak mRNA levels occurring just prior to or at the peak of DNA synthesis in the synchronized cultures. A plasmid clone (pdN-1) in which TOP2, the gene encoding the mitochondrial topoisomerase, was disrupted by the insertion of a NEO drug-resistance cassette was found to express both a truncated TOP2 mRNA and a truncated topoisomerase polypeptide. The truncated mRNA was also expressed periodically coordinate with the expression of the endogenous TOP2 mRNA indicating that cis elements necessary for periodic expression are contained within cloned sequences. The expression of both TOP2 and nuclear DNA replication genes at the G1/S boundary suggests that regulated expression of these genes may play a role in coordinating nuclear and mitochondrial S phases in trypanosomatids.

Animals↗

Mitochondrial DNA replication and transcription are dissociated during embryonic cardiac hypertrophy.

Cardiac hypertrophy was produced in embryonic chicks by decreasing the incubation temperature from 38 degrees C to 32 degrees C on day 11. Increases in ventricular protein, RNA, and DNA support the cardiac enlargement. Cytochrome-c oxidase activity and citrate synthase activity were depressed in hypothermic ventricles by 63% and 56%, respectively. No significant differences were seen in enzyme activities in pectoralis muscles. The involvement of mitochondrial gene replication and transcription was evaluated using a cDNA clone for the mitochondrially encoded subunit III of cytochrome-c oxidase (CO III). Quantitative slot-blot analysis demonstrated that the relative CO III mRNA concentration was reduced in hypothermic ventricles. In contrast, the relative mitochondrial DNA concentration was increased in hypothermic ventricles. Taken together, these data indicate that a hypothermia-induced decrease in cytochrome-c oxidase activity is associated with a decrease in CO III mRNA, which is not coupled to a decrease in the mitochondrial DNA copy number. This dissociation of mitochondrial gene replication and transcription may provide a useful model for examining the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Evidence for a direct role of the DNA polymerase gamma in the replication of the human mitochondrial DNA in vitro.

Indirect experiments suggest that DNA polymerase gamma is involved in the mitochondrial DNA replication process. This report describes an in vitro mitochondrial DNA replication assay directed by the origin of replication of the Heavy strand mt DNA. The assay requires all four dNTP, rNTP and an ATP regenerating system. Nuclease digestion experiments show that specific events occur at the mt origin of replication. Antibodies raised against the purified DNA polymerase gamma inhibit the DNA replication reaction.

DNA Polymerase III↗

Behaviour of a replicating mitochondrial DNA sequence from Aspergillus amstelodami in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus nidulans.

An amplified sequence of mitochondrial DNA from a ragged (rgd) mutant of Aspergillus amstelodami has been shown to exist in multimeric circular form, suggesting that it is excised from the genome and can exist independently of it. This sequence has replicative (ARS) activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and a subfragment responsible for this activity has been identified and sequenced. A homologous sequence from Aspergillus nidulans mtDNA also has ARS activity in S. cerevisiae. Both A. amstelodami and A. nidulans ARS elements have been incorporated into the integrative transformation vector pDJB1 and the derived vectors used to transform A. nidulans. Inclusion of the A. nidulans ARS element enhanced the transformation frequency 5-fold relative to pDJB1. No increase in transformation frequency was evident with the ARS element from A. amstelodami. The stability of transformants was variable but in comparison to pDJB1, ARS-containing plasmids were mitotically unstable in A. nidulans. Although plasmid DNAs could be rescued in Escherichia coli from undigested transformant DNA, no freely replicating plasmids were detected by Southern hybridisation.

Aspergillus↗