CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MITOCHONDRIAL HSP60-ENCODING GENEOF SCHIZOSACCHAROMYCES-POMBE

We report the isolation and characterization of a gene (designated mcp 60) encoding the mitochondrial (mt) 60-kDa heat-shock protein (HSP60) in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The deduced amino-acid sequence (582 aa) of this gene is highly similar to the known mt HSP6 0 from diverse organisms. When its sequence was related to the known f unctional domains of bacterial HSP60 (GroEL), the similarity was parti cularly high for the intermediate domains that connect the apical doma in with the equatorial domain. The mRNA level of mcp60 increased sever al-fold upon temperature upshift (from 25 to 35 degrees C), while grad ually decreased during sporulation. Gene disruption experiments reveal ed that mcp60 is essential for cell viability at all temperatures.