Independent loci for the structural genes of the yeast mitochondrial alpha and beta ATPase subunits.

In the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the structural gene mutations A23-13 (alpha-) and B59-1 (beta-) which totally prevent the expression of either the alpha or the beta subunits of the mitochondrial ATPase, were shown by classical genetic mapping studies to be both located on chromosome I but genetically unlinked. It is concluded that the structural genes ATP1 and ATP2 for the alpha and beta subunits of the mitochondrial ATPase are not organized in a cluster. By both meiotic recombination frequency analysis and gene transfer studies, three single nuclear mutations affecting to different extents the electrophoretic mobility of the beta polypeptide were located on the chromosome I very close to the mutation B59-1 (beta-). Two mutations involved a defective ATPase activity and the inability to grow on glycerol (gly). One of these mutants E5-23 (beta") exhibited a beta subunit of slightly reduced electrophoretic mobility. The other mutation F1-10 (beta) was associated with a beta subunit of normal electrophoretic mobility. The plasmid pMa2 (Boutry, M., Vassarotti, A., Ghislain, M., Douglas, M., Goffeau, A. (1984) J. Biol. Chem. 259, 2840-2844) containing the structural gene for the beta subunit complemented the mutants E5-23 (beta") and F1-10 (beta) as well as B59-1 (beta-). These three mutations are therefore likely to affect the beta structural gene itself or a very contiguous gene contained in the 5.4-kilobase genomic insert of pMa2. The mutation F1-10 (beta) was mapped between E5-23 (beta") and B59-1 (beta-) by analysis of the meiotic recombination frequencies. Another mutation F25-28-11 (beta') was responsible for an appreciable decrease of electrophoretic mobility of the beta subunit which, however, did not affect either the ATPase activity or the ability to grow on glycerol (GLY). This mutant transformed by pMa2 was able to express the structural gene for the wild type beta subunit and the resulting transformants synthesized and assembled both the beta and beta' subunits. It is concluded that the mutation F25-28-11 (beta') also affects the structural gene for the beta subunit and does not affect genes controlling the processing machinery.