Skip to main content
PMC home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1989 Oct;9(10):4259–4264. doi: 10.1128/mcb.9.10.4259

Unstable mitochondrial DNA in natural-death nuclear mutants of Neurospora crassa.

B L Seidel-Rogol 1, J King 1, H Bertrand 1
PMCID: PMC362505  PMID: 2531276

Abstract

The natural-death mutant of Neurospora crassa has an accelerated senescence phenotype caused by a recessive mutation, nd, in a nuclear gene that is located in linkage group I. An examination of mitochondrial functions, however, revealed that the mutant has phenotypic and molecular defects similar to those commonly associated with maternally transmitted fungal senescence syndromes, including (i) deficiencies in cytochromes aa3 and b; (ii) a deficit in small subunits of mitochondrial ribosomes, and hence defective mitochondrial protein synthesis; and (iii) accumulation of gross rearrangements, including large deletions, in the mitochondrial chromosome of vegetatively propagated cells. These traits indicate that the nd+ allele codes for a function that is essential for stable maintenance of the mitochondrial chromosome, possibly a protein involved in replication, repair, or recombination.

Full text

PDF
4259

Images in this article

4261Image
on p.4261

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Akins R. A., Kelley R. L., Lambowitz A. M. Mitochondrial plasmids of Neurospora: integration into mitochondrial DNA and evidence for reverse transcription in mitochondria. Cell. 1986 Nov 21;47(4):505–516. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90615-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bertrand H., Chan B. S., Griffiths A. J. Insertion of a foreign nucleotide sequence into mitochondrial DNA causes senescence in Neurospora intermedia. Cell. 1985 Jul;41(3):877–884. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80068-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bertrand H., Collins R. A., Stohl L. L., Goewert R. R., Lambowitz A. M. Deletion mutants of Neurospora crassa mitochondrial DNA and their relationship to the "stop-start" growth phenotype. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Oct;77(10):6032–6036. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.10.6032. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bertrand H., Griffiths A. J., Court D. A., Cheng C. K. An extrachromosomal plasmid is the etiological precursor of kalDNA insertion sequences in the mitochondrial chromosome of senescent neurospora. Cell. 1986 Dec 5;47(5):829–837. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90525-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bertrand H., Nargang F. E., Collins R. A., Zagozeski C. A. Nuclear cytochrome-deficient mutants of Neurospora crassa: isolation, characterization, and genetic mapping. Mol Gen Genet. 1977 Jun 24;153(3):247–257. doi: 10.1007/BF00431590. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bertrand H., Pittenger T. H. Cytoplasmic Mutants Selected from Continuously Growing Cultures of NEUROSPORA CRASSA. Genetics. 1969 Mar;61(3):643–659. doi: 10.1093/genetics/61.3.643. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Bertrand H., Szakacs N. A., Nargang F. E., Zagozeski C. A., Collins R. A., Harrigan J. C. The function of mitochondrial genes in Neurospora crassa. Can J Genet Cytol. 1976 Sep;18(3):397–409. doi: 10.1139/g76-049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Böckelmann B., Esser K. Plasmids of mitochondrial origin in senescent mycelia of Podospora curvicolla. Curr Genet. 1986;10(11):803–810. doi: 10.1007/BF00418526. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Collins R. A., Bertrand H., LaPolla R. J., Lambowitz A. M. Mitochondrial ribosome assembly in Neurospora crassa: mutants with defects in mitochondrial ribosome assembly. Mol Gen Genet. 1979;177(1):73–84. doi: 10.1007/BF00267255. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Cummings D. J., MacNeil I. A., Domenico J., Matsuura E. T. Excision-amplification of mitochondrial DNA during senescence in Podospora anserina. DNA sequence analysis of three unique "plasmids". J Mol Biol. 1985 Oct 20;185(4):659–680. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(85)90052-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Green M. R., Grimm M. F., Goewert R. R., Collins R. A., Cole M. D., Lambowitz A. M., Heckman J. E., Yin S., RajBhandary U. L. Transcripts and processing patterns for the ribosomal RNA and transfer RNA region of Neurospora crassa mitochondrial DNA. J Biol Chem. 1981 Feb 25;256(4):2027–2034. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gross S. R., Hsieh T. S., Levine P. H. Intramolecular recombination as a source of mitochondrial chromosome heteromorphism in Neurospora. Cell. 1984 Aug;38(1):233–239. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90545-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Holliday R. Errors in protein synthesis and clonal senescence in fungi. Nature. 1969 Mar 29;221(5187):1224–1228. doi: 10.1038/2211224a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Koll F., Belcour L., Vierny C. A 1100-bp sequence of mitochondrial DNA is involved in senescence process in Podospora: study of senescent and mutant cultures. Plasmid. 1985 Sep;14(2):106–117. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(85)90070-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. LaPolla R. J., Lambowitz A. M. Mitochondrial ribosome assembly in Neurospora crassa. Chloramphenicol inhibits the maturation of small ribosomal subunits. J Mol Biol. 1977 Oct 25;116(2):189–205. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90212-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Lambowitz A. M., LaPolla R. J., Collins R. A. Mitochondrial ribosome assembly in Neurospora. Two-dimensional gel electrophoretic analysis of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins. J Cell Biol. 1979 Jul;82(1):17–31. doi: 10.1083/jcb.82.1.17. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Lambowitz A. M. Preparation and analysis of mitochondrial ribosomes. Methods Enzymol. 1979;59:421–433. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(79)59103-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lazarus C. M., Earl A. J., Turner G., Küntzel H. Amplification of a mitochondrial DNA sequence in the cytoplasmically inherited 'ragged' mutant of Aspergillus amstelodami. Eur J Biochem. 1980 May;106(2):633–641. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1980.tb04611.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lewis C. M., Holliday R. Mistranslation and ageing in Neurospora. Nature. 1970 Nov 28;228(5274):877–880. doi: 10.1038/228877a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Munkres K. D., Minssen M. Ageing of Neurospora crassa. I. Evidence for the free radical theory of ageing from studies of a natural-death mutant. Mech Ageing Dev. 1976 Mar-Apr;5(2):79–98. doi: 10.1016/0047-6374(76)90010-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Myers A. M., Pape L. K., Tzagoloff A. Mitochondrial protein synthesis is required for maintenance of intact mitochondrial genomes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. EMBO J. 1985 Aug;4(8):2087–2092. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03896.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Pittenger T. H., West D. J. Isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive respiratory mutants of Neurospora crassa. Genetics. 1979 Nov;93(3):539–555. doi: 10.1093/genetics/93.3.539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Rana R. S., Munkres K. D. Ageing of Neurospora crassa. VI. Cytochemical and cytological correlates of senescence in three model systems. Mech Ageing Dev. 1978 Apr;7(4):273–288. doi: 10.1016/0047-6374(78)90071-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. SHENG T. C. A gene that causes natural death in Neurospora crassa. Genetics. 1951 Mar;36(2):199–212. doi: 10.1093/genetics/36.2.199. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Taylor J. W., Smolich B. D. Molecular cloning and physical mapping of the Neurospora crassa 74-OR23-1A mitochondrial genome. Curr Genet. 1985;9(7):597–603. doi: 10.1007/BF00381173. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Tzagoloff A., Myers A. M. Genetics of mitochondrial biogenesis. Annu Rev Biochem. 1986;55:249–285. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.55.070186.001341. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Yin S., Heckman J., RajBhandary U. L. Highly conserved GC-rich palindromic DNA sequences flank tRNA genes in Neurospora crassa mitochondria. Cell. 1981 Nov;26(3 Pt 1):325–332. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90201-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. de Vries H., Schrage C., De Jonge J. C. The mitochondrial DNA of Neurospora crassa: deletion by intramolecular recombination and the expression of mitochondrial genes. Basic Life Sci. 1986;40:57–65. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-5251-8_5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES