title: Sensitivity to treatment with polyunsaturated fatty acids is a general characteristic of the ubiquinone-deficient yeast coq mutants.
abstract: The biosynthesis of ubiquinone (Q) and the functional consequences of Q-deficiency was studied in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Lipid extracts were prepared from various respiratory deficient mutants grown in the presence of p-[U-14C]hydroxybenzoic acid. Q mutant strains harboring mutations in the coq3, coq4, coq5, coq6, coq7, or coq8 genes were unable to produce Q and accumulated an early intermediated that corresponded to 3-hexaprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Several respiratory deficient yeast including both nuclear and mitochondrial petite mutant strains, retain the ability to produce Q. Thus, the inability to produce Q is a specific phenotype manifested in the class of mutants termed 'coq'. Previous studies described the enhanced sensitivity of the Q-deficient yeast strain containing a deletion in the COQ3 gene to the products of autoxidized polyunsaturated fatty acids (Do et al., 1996, Proceeding of the National Academy of Science USA, 93, 7534-7539). The results presented here show this to be a general phenotype resulting from Q-deficiency, as all of the coq mutant yeast strains tested exhibit hypersensitivity to polyunsaturated fatty acid treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1569, USA.
authors.forename: W W
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: T Q
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Do
authors.forename: B N
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Marbois
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D004579:Electron Transport / Q000235:genetics; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D062385:Hydroxybenzoates / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D019301:Oleic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010641:Phenotype; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014315:Triterpenes / Q000378:metabolism*; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D062385:Hydroxybenzoates; D014315:Triterpenes; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid; D014451:Ubiquinone; D019301:Oleic Acid; C094743:3-hexaprenyl-4-hydroxybenzoic acid