Organization and transcription of the mitochondrial ATP synthase genes in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

Mitochondrial gene organization was studied in a dimorphic yeast, Yarrowia lipoltica. The gene order in a sequenced 6.6-kilobase region closely resembles that of the human mitochondrial genome in that ATP synthase subunit 8 and 6 genes are followed by genes for cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 (which contains an intron), NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase subunit 4, and ATP synthase subunit 9. This region also contains tRNA genes decoding AUA, UGA, CUN and CCN codons, suggesting a unique mitochondrial translation. All the above genes are transcribed from the same DNA strand into multigenic RNAs, starting from a nonanucleotide sequence, 5'-ATATAAATA-3', similar to other yeast mitochondrial promoters.