Role of the 5' hairpin structure in the splicing accuracy of the fourth intron of the yeast cob-box gene.

The splicing mechanism of the maturase-coding introns is poorly understood. We have systematically examined the phenotypes of a large number of revertants from the mitochondrial mutation G2457. This mutation results from a single base change near the 5' splicing site. We show here that this base change does not completely block the splicing of the intron but rather affects the specificity of the splicing process. We examine four classes of revertants which allow us to characterize the crucial role of a stem and loop structure in the accuracy of the intron excision process. An unexpected class of revertant suggests that other elements are involved in this mechanism. Reversion of G2457 can also occur via the excision in the mitochondrial genome of the intron coding sequence. These results are discussed in relation to the possible role fulfilled by the maturase in the control of intron splicing.