title: The 28.5-kDa iron-sulfur protein of mitochondrial complex I is encoded in the nucleus in plants.
abstract: The intrinsic 28.5-kDa iron-sulfur protein of complex I in the mitochondrial respiratory chain is encoded in the nucleus in animals and fungi, but specified by a mitochondrial gene in trypanosomes. In plants, the homologous protein is now found to be encoded by a single-copy nuclear gene in Arabidopsis thaliana and by two nuclear genes in potato. The cysteine motifs involved in binding two iron-sulfur clusters are conserved in the plant protein sequences. The locations of the seven introns, with sizes between 60 and 1700 nucleotides, are identical in the A. thaliana and the two potato genes, while their primary sequences diverge considerably. The A + T contents of the intron sequences range between 61% and 73%, as is characteristic for dicot plants, but are in some instances not higher than in the adjacent exons. Here, differences in T content may instead serve to discriminate exons and introns. In potato, both genes are expressed, with the highest levels found in flowers. Sequence similarities between the homologous nuclear and mitochondrial genes indicate that the nuclear forms in animals and plants originate from the endosymbiont genome.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Genbiologische Forschung, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmidt-Bleek
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Heiser
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Thieck
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brennicke
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grohmann
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics*; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I; D005091:Exons; D015870:Gene Expression; D017343:Genes, Plant; D007438:Introns; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009247:NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011198:Solanum tuberosum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D007506:Iron-Sulfur Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D009247:NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases; D042967:Electron Transport Complex I