title: A cytoplasmic suppressor of a nuclear mutation affecting mitochondrial functions in Drosophila.
abstract: Phenotypes relevant to oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in eukaryotes are jointly determined by nuclear and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Thus, in humans, the variable clinical presentations of mitochondrial disease patients bearing the same primary mutation, whether in nuclear or mitochondrial DNA, have been attributed to putative genetic determinants carried in the "other" genome, though their identity and the molecular mechanism(s) by which they might act remain elusive. Here we demonstrate cytoplasmic suppression of the mitochondrial disease-like phenotype of the Drosophila melanogaster nuclear mutant tko(25t), which includes developmental delay, seizure sensitivity, and defective male courtship. The tko(25t) strain carries a mutation in a mitoribosomal protein gene, causing OXPHOS deficiency due to defective intramitochondrial protein synthesis. Phenotypic suppression was associated with increased mtDNA copy number and increased mitochondrial biogenesis, as measured by the expression levels of porin voltage dependent anion channel and Spargel (PGC1α). Ubiquitous overexpression of Spargel in tko(25t) flies phenocopied the suppressor, identifying it as a key mechanistic target thereof. Suppressor-strain mtDNAs differed from related nonsuppressor strain mtDNAs by several coding-region polymorphisms and by length and sequence variation in the noncoding region (NCR), in which the origin of mtDNA replication is located. Cytoplasm from four of five originally Wolbachia-infected strains showed the same suppressor effect, whereas that from neither of two uninfected strains did so, suggesting that the stress of chronic Wolbachia infection may provide evolutionary selection for improved mitochondrial fitness under metabolic stress. Our findings provide a paradigm for understanding the role of mtDNA genotype in human disease.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Technology and Tampere University Hospital, FI-33014 University of Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Shanjun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Marcos T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: Esko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kemppainen
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukuoh
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schlicht
authors.forename: Laurie S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kaguni
authors.forename: Howard T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Jacobs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D056915:DNA Copy Number Variations; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D028361:Mitochondrial Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010085:Oxidative Phosphorylation; D010641:Phenotype; D042925:Positive Transcriptional Elongation Factor B / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; C527201:pgc protein, Drosophila; D042925:Positive Transcriptional Elongation Factor B