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L A Grivell

Publications and source records attributed to L A Grivell.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Structural analysis of a group II intron by chemical modifications and minimal energy calculations.

Folding of the yeast mitochondrial group II intron aI5c has been analysed by chemical modification of the in vitro synthesised RNA with dimethylsulfate and diethylpyrocarbonate. Computer calculations of the intron secondary structure through minimization of free energy were also performed in order to study thermodynamic properties of the intron and to relate these to data obtained from chemical modification. Comparison of the two sets of data with the current phylogenetic model structure of the intron aI5 reveals close agreement, thus lending strong support for the existence of a typical group II intron core structure comprising six neighbouring stem-loop domains. Local discrepancies between the experimental data and the model structures have been analyzed by reference to thermodynamic properties of the structure. This shows that use of the latest refined set of free energy values improves the structure calculation significantly.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

An ARS/silencer binding factor also activates two ribosomal protein genes in yeast.

GFI is an abundant yeast DNA-binding protein, capable of binding to both ARS sequences and to the upstream regions of a number of nuclear genes coding for mitochondrial proteins (Dorsman et al., Nucl. Acids Res., 16 [1988] 7287-7301). GFI binding sites conform to the consensus RTCRYN5ACG, an element also present in the binding sites of factors designated SUF and TAF. These factors act as trans-activators of the constitutive transcription of the genes for ribosomal proteins S33 and L3 respectively. We now present evidence that GFI, TAF and SUF are probably the same protein. We speculate that one of the functions of GFI is the adjustment of the expression of a number of gene families to cell growth rate.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

Structure-function relationships in a self-splicing group II intron: a large part of domain II of the mitochondrial intron aI5 is not essential for self-splicing.

An oligonucleotide-directed deletion of 156 nucleotides has been introduced into the yeast mitochondrial group II intron al5 (887 nt). The deletion comprises almost all of domain II, which is one of the six phylogenetically conserved structural elements of group II introns. This mutant displays reduced self-splicing activity, but results of chemical probing with dimethylsulphate suggest that sequences at the site of the deletion interfere with the normal folding of the intron. This is supported by computer analyses, which predict a number of alternative structures involving conserved intron sequences. Splicing activity could be restored by insertion of a 10-nucleotide palindromic sequence into the unique Smal site of the deletion mutant, resulting in the formation of a small stable stem-loop element at the position of domain II. These results provide a direct correlation between folding of the RNA and its activity. We conclude that at least a large part of domain II of the group II intron al5 is not required for self-splicing activity. This deletion mutant with a length of 731 nucleotides represents the smallest self-splicing group II intron so far known.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1989

The C-terminal half of the 11-kDa subunit VIII is not necessary for the enzymic activity of yeast ubiquinol:cytochrome-c oxidoreductase.

Inactivation of the gene encoding the 11-kDa subunit VIII of yeast ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase leads to an inactive complex, which lacks detectable cytochrome b [Maarse, A. C., De Haan, M., Schoppink, P. J., Berden, J. A. and Grivell, L. A. (1988) Eur. J. Biochem. 172, 179-184] and in which the steady-state levels of the Fe-S protein and the 14-kDa subunit VII are severely reduced. When the 11-kDao mutant is transformed with a gene encoding a protein consisting of the 11-kDa protein minus its last 11 amino acids and fused to a 7-amino-acid sequence encoded by a stop oligonucleotide, the complex is assembled normally. Enzyme activity is similar to that of the wild type, as is also the sensitivity of the complex to antimycin and myxothiazol. Transformation of the mutant with a gene encoding a protein consisting of the 11-kDa protein lacking the last 43 amino acids (i.e. almost half the protein) and fused to the same 7-amino-acid sequence as above, gives partial restoration of the complex. The Fe-S protein and the 14-kDa subunit VII still exhibit low steady-state levels, but cytochrome b is present again, albeit at a strongly reduced level. Electron transport activity is also partially restored and correlates with the level of cytochrome b indicating that the turnover number of the complex is similar to that of wild-type complex III. These findings demonstrate the important role played by the 11-kDa protein in the stabilization of cytochrome b. They also imply that at least the C-terminal half of the 11-kDa protein is not part of an ubiquinol-binding site. Moreover, since the deletion has no effect on the sensitivity of the complex to myxothiazol and antimycin, at least this part of the protein is probably not involved in binding of these inhibitors.

Antimycin A↗
PubMed1989

Inactivation of the gene encoding the 14-kDa subunit VII of yeast ubiquinol. Cytochrome c oxidoreductase and analysis of the resulting mutant.

The single nuclear gene encoding the 14-kDa subunit VII of yeast ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase has been inactivated by one-step gene disruption, as verified by Southern blot analysis and immunoblotting. The resulting mutant has no ubiquinol:cytochrome c oxidoreductase activity and is respiratory-deficient. Immunoblotting shows that cells lacking the 14-kDa protein, also have lowered steady-state levels of other subunits of complex III, the nuclear-encoded 11-kDa subunit VIII, the Rieske Fe-S protein and the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b. No cytochrome b can be detected spectrally. The steady-state levels of the transcripts from genes encoding these proteins are not reduced, implying that the mutation exerts its pleiotropic effects at a post-transcriptional level. The residual amounts of subunits of complex III are recovered in the mutant mitochondria, suggesting that import is unaffected. The results strongly suggest that the 14-kDa protein plays an essential role in the biosynthesis of the complex, most probably at the level of assembly. Field-inversion gel electrophoresis was used to separate chromosomes of HR2 wild type and the (14-kDa-protein) degrees mutant, after which the gene encoding the 14-kDa protein was located on chromosome IV by Southern blot analysis.

Blotting, Northern↗
PubMed1988

Purification and characterization of a rotenone-insensitive NADH:Q6 oxidoreductase from mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A mitochondrial NADH:Q6 oxidoreductase has been isolated from cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by a simple method involving extraction of the enzyme from the mitochondrial membrane with Triton X-100, followed by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose and blue Sepharose CL-6B. By this procedure a 2000-fold purification is achieved with respect to whole cells or a 150-fold purification with respect to the mitochondrion. The purified NADH dehydrogenase consists of a single subunit with molecular mass of 53 kDa as indicated by SDS/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The enzyme contains FAD, non-covalently linked, as the sole prosthetic group with Em,7.6 = -370 mV and no iron-sulphur clusters. The enzyme is specific for NADH with apparent Km = 31 microM and was found to be inhibited by flavone (I50 = 95 microM), but not by rotenone or piericidin. The purified enzyme can use ubiquinone-2, -6 or -10, menaquinone, dichloroindophenol or ferricyanide as electron acceptors, but at different rates. The greatest turnover of NADH was obtained with ubiquinone-2 as acceptor (2500 s-1). With the natural ubiquinone-6 this value was 500 s-1. The NADH:Q2 oxidoreductase activity shows a maximum at pH 6.2, the NADH:Q6 oxidoreductase activity is constant between pH 4.5-9.0. The amount of enzyme in the cell is subject to glucose repression; it increases slightly when cells, grown on glucose or lactate, enter the stationary phase. The experiments performed so far suggest that the enzyme purified in this study is the external NADH:Q6 oxidoreductase, bound to the mitochondrial inner membrane and that it is involved in the oxidation of cytosolic NADH. The relation of this enzyme with respect to various other NADH dehydrogenases from yeast and plant mitochondria is discussed.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗
PubMed1988

Identification of two factors which bind to the upstream sequences of a number of nuclear genes coding for mitochondrial proteins and to genetic elements important for cell division in yeast.

Two abundant factors, GFI and GFII which interact with the 5' flanking regions of nuclear genes coding for proteins of the mitochondrial respiratory chain have been identified. In one case (subunit VIII of QH2: cytochrome c oxidoreductase) the binding sites for both factors overlap completely and their binding is mutually exclusive. For the other 5' regions tested the GFI and GFII binding sites do not coincide. Interestingly, binding sites for GFI and GFII are also present in or at the 3' ends of the coding regions of two genes of the PHO gene family and in DNA elements important for optimal ARS and CEN function respectively. The sites recognized by GFI conform to the consensus RTCRNNNNNNACGNR, while those recognized by GFII contain the element RTCACGTG. We speculate that GFI and GFII may play a role in different cellular processes, dependent on the context of their binding sites and that one of these processes may be the coordination of the expression of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis with the progress of the cell cycle.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Demarcation of a sequence involved in mediating catabolite repression of the gene for the 11 kDa subunit VIII of ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

A regulatory element has been identified in the promoter region of the gene encoding the 11 kDa subunit VIII of the ubiquinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The element, which is approximately 40 bp long and situated 185 bp upstream of the initiator ATG, is essential for induction of gene expression during growth in the presence of non-fermentable carbon sources. This is shown by the regulated synthesis of beta-galactosidase in yeast cells harbouring a CYC1-lacZ fusion gene, in which the CYC1 UAS's had been replaced by a 43 bp subunit VIII gene promoter fragment. In addition two DNA-binding activities, which may represent either separate factors or different forms of a single factor, have been detected. Both factors are abundant and they bind in a mutually exclusive fashion to a DNA sequence just upstream of the regulatory element. Although it is unlikely that these factors are directly involved in the response of the subunit VIII gene to catabolite repression, the position of their binding sites relative to the UAS and to the 3'-terminus of a gene located only 361 bp upstream suggest that they are important in modulating transcriptional activity of this region.

DNA, Fungal↗
PubMed1988

Mitochondrial biogenesis: recent developments and insights.

Biosynthesis of a functional mitochondrion requires the coordinate expression of genes in both mitochondrial and nuclear DNAs. In yeast, three mitochondrial genes are split and RNA splicing plays a pivotal role in their expression. The recent finding that some introns are capable of self-splicing activity in vitro has permitted analysis of the mechanisms involved in RNA catalysis and may eventually shed light on the evolution of splicing mechanisms in general. Most mitochondrial proteins are encoded by nuclear genes, synthesized in the cytoplasm and imported by the organelle. The availability of cloned genes coding for several constituent subunits of the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase, which are imported by mitochondria, has allowed study of selected steps in the addressing of proteins to mitochondria and their intercompartmental sorting within the organelle. Recent developments are discussed.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗
PubMed1988

Yeast ubiquinol: cytochrome c oxidoreductase is still active after inactivation of the gene encoding the 17-kDa subunit VI.

The single nuclear gene encoding the 17-kDa subunit VI of yeast ubiquinol: cytochrome c oxidoreductase has been inactivated by one-step gene disruption. Disruption was verified by Southern blot analysis of nuclear DNA and immunoblotting. Cells lacking the 17-kDa protein are still capable of growth on glycerol and they contain all other subunits of complex III at wild-type levels, implying that the 17-kDa subunit is not essential for either assembly of complex III, or its function. In vitro, electron transport activity of complex III of mutant cells is about 40% of the wild-type complex, but for the total respiratory chain no significant differences in activity was measured between mutant and wild type. The energy-transducing capacity of the complex is not reduced in the absence of the 17-kDa protein. In a relatively high proportion of the transformants, disruption of the 17-kDa gene was accompanied by the appearance of a second mutation causing a petite phenotype. In these cells which lack cytochrome b, the presence of the 17-kDa protein (after complementation) results in stabilization of cytochrome c1.

Electron Transport↗
PubMed1988

Inactivation of the gene encoding the 11-kDa subunit VIII of the ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The single nuclear gene encoding the 11-kDa subunit VIII of the ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase (complex III) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been inactivated by a one-step gene disruption procedure. Inactivation results in a loss of ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase activity (less than 1% wild type) and respiratory deficiency. Cells lacking the 11-kDa protein also display lowered steady-state levels of other complex-III subunits encoded by nuclear genes including the 14-kDa subunit VII and the Rieske Fe-S protein and of the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome b. The steady-state levels of the transcripts from the genes encoding these proteins are however not reduced. The results strongly imply that the 11-kDa protein plays an important role in regulating the synthesis of complex III at the post-transcriptional level, most likely assembly. Separation of chromosomes by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of DNA of wild-type and of the mutant lacking the 11-kDa-protein gene followed by Southern blot analysis reveals that the latter gene is located on chromosome X rather than on XII as reported by Van Loon et al. [Mol. Gen. Genet. 197 (1984) 219-224].

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1988

RNA splicing in yeast mitochondria: DNA sequence analysis of mit- mutants deficient in the excision of introns aI1 and aI2 of the gene for subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase.

We have characterized two yeast mutants deficient in the splicing of transcripts of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (coxI). Both map to the first intron (aI1). RNA blot analysis shows that in addition to a reduced (mutant M15-190) or blocked (mutant M12-193) excision of the mutated intron aI1, the mutants are unable to excise the adjacent aI2 intron, the reading frame of which displays an amino acid sequence similarity to aI1. Splicing of the downstream introns is not affected, however. Sequence analysis of the first mutant DNA (M12-193) reveals a premature termination of the intron-encoded open reading frame, followed by two alterations at a short distance downstream. The other (M15-190) contains 11 separate changes. Although these occur in the intron reading frame, their main effect on RNA splicing may be exerted through the disturbance of intron secondary structure proposed for the 5' end of several group II introns. The implications of these findings in relation to maturase function and structure of intron aI1 are discussed.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1987

Mutations at the lariat acceptor site allow self-splicing of a group II intron without lariat formation.

The fifth intron in the gene for cytochrome c oxidase subunit I in yeast mitochondrial DNA is of the group II type and is capable of self-splicing in vitro. The reaction results in lariat formation, concomitant with exon-exon ligation and does not require a guanosine nucleotide for its initiation. It is generally assumed, but not formally proven, that the first step in splicing is a nucleophilic attack of the 2'-hydroxyl of the branchpoint nucleotide (A) on the 5'-exon-intron junction. To investigate the role of intron sequences in recognition of the 5'-splice junction and the ensuing event of cleavage and lariat formation, mutations have been introduced at and around the branchsite. Results obtained show that although branchpoint attack and subsequent lariat formation are strongly preferred events under conditions normally used for self-splicing, addition of a single T residue at intron position 856, a mutation which brings the branchpoint adenosine into a basepair, leads to a conditionally active intron, which at high ionic strength catalyses exon-exon ligation in the absence of lariat formation. Comparable behaviour is also observed with the branchpoint A deletion mutant. The implications of these findings for the mechanism of self-splicing of group II introns are discussed.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗
PubMed1987

Nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the 11-kDa subunit of the ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding the 11-kDa subunit VIII of the ubiquinol-cytochrome-c oxidoreductase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been determined. The coding sequence has a length of 330 bp and is preceded at a distance of 361 bp by another reading frame, coding for a protein of as yet unknown function. The 11-kDa gene is transcribed independently of the URFx gene and transcription of both is sensitive to catabolite repression. Multiple 5' and 3' termini of transcripts of the gene for the 11-kDa subunit were identified by S1 nuclease protection analysis of DNA X RNA hybrids. The 5' termini map 52 +/- 2 and 60 +/- 2 nucleotides upstream of the initiation codon whereas the 3' termini map 336 +/- 2 and 350 +/- 2 nucleotides downstream of the stop codon. The subunit VIII reading frame encodes a protein with a molecular mass of 12.4 kDa and a polarity of 37.6%. It is predicted to contain a high content of beta-sheet segments, which may be capable of forming a barrel-like structure in a lipid bilayer. A comparison of the sequence with those of the small subunits of the beef heart complex reveals similarity with the 9.5-kDa subunit VII (core-linked protein) characterized by Borchart et al. (1986) FEBS Lett. 200, 81-86. The significance of this is discussed.

Animals↗