mitochondria overheads 2012.pptx

An overview of plant mitochondrial genomes •  Like chloroplasts, mitochondria are autonomous gene9c systems – they possess a complement of DNA that is expressed as protein •  Also like chloroplasts, mitochondria are descendants of ancient photosynthe9c bacteria – the Endosymbio9c Theory •  Plant mitochondrial genomes vary widely in size: 200 -­‐ >2500 kbp: wide varia9on, much larger than mammalian and fungal counterparts (10 -­‐> 75 kbp) much genome reorganiza9on and/or rearrangement is observed in plant mitochondria •  In spite of the wide varia9on in size, the coding capaci9es of plant mitochondrial genomes is similar •  The size variability largely reflects differences in the content of repe99ve DNA Evolu9on of plant mitochondrial genomes: u  chloroplast sequences have been iden9fied in mitochondrial genomes (and nuclear sequences in the mtDNA of one plant) u  mitochondrial sequences have been iden9fied in the nuclear genome as well; these include fragments of genes and en9re genes as well u  coxII in legumes: pea has a func9onal mitochondrial coxII, other legumes (soybean, cowpea) have par9al or complete inac9ve coxII genes, and coxII is provided by a nuclear gene u  ramifica9ons: DNA can migrate between organellar compartments during evolu9on (mechanisms??); this may be accompanied by “ac9va9on” of genes in the recipient compartment Organelle-­‐organelle movement of DNA can be inferred from DNA sequence comparisons Plant mitochondrial genomes are capable of substan9al rearrangements Ø  “Master” chromosome Ø  Smaller chromosomes that consist of por9ons of the “master Ø  May include linear chromosomes (not shown here) u  Implica9ons for inheritance… v  Recombina9on? v  Promotes accumula9on of muta9ons/gene9c diversity/phenotypic variability? Plant Cell. 2011 July; 23(7): 2499–2513. Contents of plant mitochondrial genomes 3 rRNAs (23S, 16S, 5S -­‐> prokaryo9c) ribosomal proteins (0-­‐15); note the extreme variability in different plants 9-­‐22 tRNAs (not enough for recogni9on of all codons -­‐> tRNAs must be imported from the cytoplasm) tRNAs may be of mitochondrial or chloroplast origin ATP synthase (5 subunits), cytochrome bp, NADH dehydrogenase (9 subunits), cytochrome c oxidase (2-­‐3 subunits), genes involved in cytochrome c biogenesis (at least 4 genes); note that nuclear-­‐encoded subunits are also needed for mitochondrial complexes) BMC Evol Biol. 2010; 10: 274. Contents of plant mitochondrial genomes ribosomal proteins (1-­‐15); note the extreme variability in different plants This suggests an ac9ve evolu9onary process wherein genes are “moving” from the organellar to the nuclear genome BMC Evol Biol. 2010; 10: 274. 9-­‐22 tRNAs (not enough for recogni9on of all codons -­‐> tRNAs must be imported from the cytoplasm) tRNAs may be of mitochondrial or chloroplast origin Plant mitochondrial gene structure poly-­‐ and mono-­‐ cistronic prokaryo9c promoters prokaryo9c transla9on ini9a9on (SD sequences, etc.) introns -­‐ Group I, Group II, nested, protein coding by introns trans-­‐splicing RNAs may be edited -­‐ C -­‐> U, U -­‐> C; edi9ng is observed in protein-­‐coding regions and in tRNAs and introns Cytoplasmic male sterility and the interrela9onship between nuclear and organelle genomes •  cytoplasmic male sterility -­‐ cms: an important tool for plant breeders •  Biochemically associated with mitochondria •  maternally-­‐inherited (a cytoplasmic trait) origin of cms traits -­‐ "engineer" distantly-­‐related nuclear and cytoplasmic backgrounds: Repeated rounds of backcrossing promotes mt genome muta9on and rearrangements (presumably, to op9mize and stabilize the interac9ons of the two gene9c systems) CMS and mitochondrial genome plas9city – a case study •  cmsT -­‐ maize trait •  cmsT maize are suscep9ble to race T of Cochliobolus heterotrophus •  race T of C. heterotrophus produces a toxin that permeabilizes the mitochondrial inner membrane of cmsT maize •  cmsT mitochondrial DNA has a different restric9on enzyme profile than does wild-­‐type maize mitochondrial DNA •  one specific region is associated with cmsT, and its RNAs are specifically altered by nuclear restorers of cmsT •  cmsT mitochondria possess a novel gene, capable of encoding a ca. 110 amino acid polypep9de (the so-­‐called orf13 polypep9de, or P-­‐orf13) •  at least seven different recombina9on events are needed to yield orf13: Widely-­‐separated parts of the maize mitochondrial genome comprise the t-­‐
urf13 locus