Mitochondrial translation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae COX2 mRNA is controlled by the nucleotide sequence specifying the pre-Cox2p leader peptide

The mitochondrial gene encoding yeast cytochrome oxidase subunit II (Cox2p) specifies a precursor protein with a 15-amino-acid leader peptide. Deletio n of the entire leader peptide coding region is known to block Cox2p accumu lation posttranscriptionally. Here, we examined in vivo the role of the pre -Cox2p leader peptide and the mRNA sequence that encodes it in the expressi on of a mitochondrial reporter gene, ARG8(m), fused to the 91st codon of CO X2, We found within the coding sequence antagonistic elements that control translation: the positive element includes sequences in the first 14 codons specifying the leader peptide, while the negative element appears to be,wi thin codons 15 to 91. Partial deletions, point mutations, and local framesh ifts within the leader peptide coding region were placed in both the cox2:: ARG8(m) reporter and in COX2 itself. Surprisingly, the mRNA sequence of the first six codons specifying the leader peptide plays an important role in positively controlling translation, while the amino acid sequence of the le ader peptide itself is relatively unconstrained. Two mutations that partial ly block translation can be suppressed by nearby sequence substitutions tha t weaken a predicted stem structure and by overproduction of either the COX 2 mRNA-specific translational activator Pet111p or the large-subunit mitoch ondrial ribosomal protein MrpL36p. We propose that regulatory elements embe dded in the translated COX2 mRNA sequence could play a role, together with trans-acting factors, in coupling regulated synthesis of nascent pre-Cox2p to its insertion in the mitochondrial inner membrane.