In vitro splicing of the terminal intervening sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae cytochrome b pre-mRNA.

A region of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondrial cytochrome b gene encompassing the entire terminal intron plus flanking exonic sequences has been cloned in an SP6 vector. A runoff transcript prepared from this construct as well as the native cytochrome b pre-mRNA containing the terminal intervening sequence were found to act as substrates for the autocatalytic excision of the intervening sequence in vitro. This reaction proceeds under conditions previously shown by Cech and co-workers to promote protein-independent excision of the Tetrahymena rRNA intervening sequence. The 5' and 3' termini of the excised intervening sequence, determined by S1 nuclease mapping and sequence analysis, are consistent with the known sequence of the cytochrome b mRNA. The same region of the cytochrome b gene from a yeast mutant, defective in splicing due to a mutation in a critical sequence inside the terminal intron, has also been cloned in an SP6 vector. The mutant transcript fails to self-splice in the in vitro assay. These observations provide strong presumptive evidence that in vivo processing of the terminal intervening sequence of the cytochrome b pre-mRNA occurs by an autocatalytic mechanism analogous to that shown for other group I introns. In vivo processing of the terminal intervening sequence of the cytochrome b pre-mRNA, however, exhibits complete dependence on a protein factor previously shown to be encoded by the nuclear gene CBP2.