O. Zelenayatroitskaya et al., AN ENZYME IN YEAST MITOCHONDRIA THAT CATALYZES A STEP IN BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO-ACID BIOSYNTHESIS ALSO FUNCTIONS IN MITOCHONDRIAL-DNA STABILITY, EMBO journal, 14(13), 1995, pp. 3268-3276
The yeast mitochondrial high mobility group protein Abf2p is required,
under certain growth conditions, for the maintenance of wild-type (rh
o(+)) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). We have identified a multicopy suppre
ssor of the mtDNA instability phenotype of cells with a null allele of
the ABF2 gene (Delta abf2). The suppressor is a known gene, ILV5, enc
oding the mitochondrial protein, acetohydroxy acid reductoisomerase, w
hich catalyzes a step in branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis. Effic
ient suppression occurs with just a 2- to 3-fold increase in ILV5 copy
number, Moreover, in Delta abf2 cells with a single copy of ILV5, cha
nges in mtDNA stability correlate directly with changes in conditions
that are known to affect ILV5 expression. Wild-type mtDNA is unstable
in cells with an ILV5 null mutation (Delta il nu 5), leading to the pr
oduction of mostly rho(-) petite mutants. The instability of rho(+) mt
DNA in Delta il nu 5 cells is not simply a consequence of a block in b
ranched-chain amino acid biosynthesis, since mtDNA is stable in cells
with a null allele of the ILV2 gene, which encodes another enzyme of t
hat pathway. The most severe instability of rho(+) mtDNA is observed i
n cells with null alleles of both ABF2 and ILV5. We suggest that ILV5
encodes a bifunctional protein required for branched-chain amino acid
biosynthesis and for the maintenance of rho(+) mtDNA.