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TheNAM8 gene inSaccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a protein with putative RNA binding motifs and acts as a suppressor of mitochondrial splicing deficiencies when overexpressed

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Summary

We have characterized the nuclear geneNAM8 inSaccharomyces cerevisiae. It acts as a suppressor of mitochondrial splicing deficiencies when present on a multicopy plasmid. The suppressed mutations affect RNA folding and are located in both group I and group II introns. The gene is weakly transcribed in wildtype strains, its overexpression is a prerequisite for the suppressor action. Inactivation of theNAM8 gene does not affect cell viability, mitochondrial function or mitochondrial genome stability. TheNAM8 gene encodes a protein of 523 amino acids which includes two conserved (RNP) motifs common to RNA-binding proteins from widely different organisms. This homology with RNA-binding proteins, together with the intronic location of the suppressed mitochondrial mutations, suggests that the NAM8 protein could be a non-essential component of the mitochondrial splicing machinery and, when present in increased amounts, it could convert a deficient intron RNA folding pattern into a productive one.

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  1. Karl Ekwall

    Present address: Institute of Molecular Biology, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Box 590, S-75124, Uppsala, Sweden

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  1. Centre de Génétique Moléculaire, Laboratoire propre du C.N.R.S. associé à l'Université P. et M. Curie, F-91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Karl Ekwall, Michèle Kermorgant, Geneviève Dujardin, Olga Groudinsky & Piotr P. Slonimski

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  1. Karl Ekwall
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  2. Michèle Kermorgant
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Ekwall, K., Kermorgant, M., Dujardin, G. et al. TheNAM8 gene inSaccharomyces cerevisiae encodes a protein with putative RNA binding motifs and acts as a suppressor of mitochondrial splicing deficiencies when overexpressed. Molec. Gen. Genet. 233, 136–144 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00587571

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