Cytochrome b of cob revertants in yeast. Bioenergetic characterization of revertants with reduced content and shifted maximum absorption wavelength of cytochrome b.

22 revertants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with intragenic suppressors (supa) of cob exon mutations (G. Burger, Mol. Gen. Genet., in the press) were analyzed. They display either a reduced amount of cytochrome b, or a shifted maximum absorption wavelength of total cytochrome b or a reduced growth rate on glycerol. The relationship of physico-chemical properties (content, light absorption and midpoint potential of cytochromes bK and bT) and functional properties (electron transport and energy yield) has been examined. In seven of eight revertants with a shifted maximum absorption wavelength of cytochrome b neither growth rate nor electron transfer activity was affected. In 13 of 14 revertants, reduced content of cytochrome b corresponds to a reduced electron transport rate through the cytochrome bc1 segment. A lower enzymatic activity, which is not due to a quantitative but to a qualitative alteration of cytochrome b was found in two revertants. Two revertants show electron transport rates of wild-type level concomitant with a reduced growth rate on glycerol, obviously due to a less efficient energy coupling. All revertants were shown to contain a high and a low potential cytochrome b, referred to as bK and bT. Those cob-/supa mutations which shift the maximum absorption wavelength or diminish the content of cytochrome b affect both b cytochromes in all cases. The results support that electron transport and energy conservation are catalyzed by the unity of cytochrome bK and bT and that both heme centers are bound to an identical apoenzyme. Comparing electron flow rates of succinate:cytochrome c oxidoreductase and NADH:cytochrome c oxidoreductase in cob- mutants and two revertants provides evidence that ubiquinone does not constitute a homogeneous pool, suggested by the dissimilar interaction of both dehydrogenases with the bc1 segment.