Mitochondrial fission facilitates mitophagy in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

As a highly dynamic organelle, mitochondria undergo constitutive fusion and fission as well as biogenesis and degradation. Mitophagy, selective mitochondrial degradation through autophagy, is a conserved cellular process used for the elimination of excessive and damaged mitochondria in eukaryotes. Despite the significance of mitophagy in cellular physiology and pathophysiologies, the underlying mechanism of this process is far from clear. In this report, we studied the role of mitochondrial fission during mitophagy, and uncover a direct link between the fission complex and mitophagy machinery in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.