An ADP/ATP-specific mitochondrial carrier protein in the microsporidian Antonospora locustae.
The mitochondrion is one of the defining characteristics of eukaryotic cells, and to date, no eukaryotic lineage has been shown to have lost mitochondria entirely. In certain anaerobic or microaerophilic lineages, however, the mitochondrion has become severely reduced that it lacks a genome and no longer synthesizes ATP. One example of such a reduced organelle, called the mitosome, is found in microsporidian parasites. Only a handful of potential mitosomal proteins were found to be encoded in the complete genome of the microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi, and significantly no proteins of the mitochondrial carrier family were identified. These carriers facilitate the transport of solutes across the inner mitochondrial membrane, are a means of communication between the mitochondrion and cytosol, and are abundant in organisms with aerobic mitochondria. Here, we report the characterization of a mitochondrial carrier protein in the microsporidian Antonospora locustae and demonstrate that the protein is heterologously targeted to mitochondria in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The protein is phylogenetically allied to the NAD(+) transporter of S. cerevisiae, but we show that it has high specificity for ATP and ADP when expressed in Escherichia coli. An ADP/ATP carrier may provide ATP for essential ATP-dependent mitosomal processes such as Hsp70-dependent protein import and export of iron-sulfur clusters to the cytosol.
Williams
Bryony A P
BA
Department of Botany, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Haferkamp
Ilka
I
Keeling
Patrick J
PJ
D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016814:Microsporidia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism*; D000226:Mitochondrial ADP, ATP Translocases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity
D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D000226:Mitochondrial ADP, ATP Translocases