The biosynthesis of the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase complex in yeast. DNA sequence analysis of the nuclear gene coding for the 14-kDa subunit.

The nuclear gene coding for the imported 14-kDa subunit of the ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase of yeast mitochondria has been sequenced in an attempt to define regulatory and protein topogenic elements. The gene has a length of 381 base pairs and is potentially capable of encoding a polypeptide of 14561 Da. It is transcribed into a single low-abundance RNA of 680 nucleotides whose 5' and 3' termini map, respectively, 30-35 nucleotides upstream and 180-190 nucleotides downstream of the initiator and termination codons. Consistent with the estimated low level of the mRNA, codon usage in the gene is not strongly biased and other features, characteristic of highly expressed genes in yeast, are absent. The 14-kDa protein is predicted to be a predominantly hydrophilic protein, with only a single, short hydrophobic stretch located between positions 19-38. Comparison with other imported mitochondrial proteins so far sequenced has failed to reveal unifying features that might serve as targeting elements. Steady-state levels of the 14-kDa and 11-kDa subunits are reduced in mit- mutants which synthesize truncated forms of apocytochrome b and in these, newly synthesized subunits exhibit a specifically increased turnover rate. We suggest that association of these two subunits with the complex may be mediated or enhanced by interaction with other subunits, in particular cytochrome b.