Partial rescue of pos5 mutants by YEF1 and UTR1 genes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Three NAD kinase homologs, encoded by UTR1, POS5 and YEF1 genes, are found in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and proven to be important sources of NADPH for the cell. Pos5p, existing in the mitochondrial matrix, is critical for higher temperature endurance and mitochondrial functions, such as glycerol usability and arginine biosynthesis. Through constructing the high-copy expression plasmids of YEF1 and UTR1, which contained the green fluorescent protein reporter tag at their 3' terminus, and introducing them into POS5 gene deletion mutants (i.e. pos5, utr1pos5, yef1pos5 and utr1yef1pos5), the high-copy YEF1 and UTR1 plasmids carrying transformants for pos5 mutants were obtained. Their temperature sensitivity and growth phenotype on media with glycerol as the sole carbon source, or on media without arginine, were checked. Results showed the partial rescue of mitochondrial dysfunctions and temperature sensitivity of pos5 mutants by the high-copy YEF1 gene, and of glycerol growth defect and temperature sensitivity by the high-copy UTR1 gene, which confirmed the potential supplying ability of Yef1p and Utr1p for mitochondrial NADP(H) and implied the weak transport of NADP from cytosol to mitochondria. However, even through the green fluorescent protein reporter label, the subcellular localization of Yef1p and Utr1p in yeast cells could not be observed, which indicated the low expression level of these two NAD kinase homologs.