We describe a set of replicative, integrative and single-stranded shuttle vectors constructed from the pUC19 plasmid that we use routinely in our experiments. They bear a yeast selectable marker: URA3, TRP1 or LEU2. Replicative vectors carrying different yeast replication origins have been constructed in order to have plasmids based on the same construction with a high or low copy number per cell and with different mitotic stabilities. All the vectors are small in size, provide a high yield in Escherichia coli and efficiently transform Saccharomyces cerevisiae. These plasmids have many of the unique sites of the pUC19 multicloning region and many of them allow for the screening of plasmids with an insert by alpha-complementation. The nucleotide sequence of each of them is completely known.

Two nuclear genes, RTG1 and RTG2, which sense the functional state of yeast mitochondria, have been described recently. Yeast strains with null alleles of either of these two genes (delta rtg1, delta rtg2) cannot grow on acetate as the sole carbon source and are auxotrophic for glutamate and aspartate. We report here a series of metabolic experiments and enzyme activity measurements that were made in an attempt to determine the reason for the acetate- phenotype and the glutamate/aspartate auxotrophy. Decreases in the activities (approximately 50%) in mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS1), acetyl-CoA synthetase, NAD isocitrate dehydrogenase, and pyruvate carboxylase were noted. When CS1 was overexpressed in the delta rtg1 and delta rtg2 mutants, these strains could grow on acetate but were still auxotrophic for glutamate/aspartate. We propose that, in the mutant strain, CS1 activity becomes limiting for efficient acetate utilization, but that other complex metabolic interactions are affected, limiting production of intermediates that would allow synthesis of glutamic and aspartic acids.

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The mitochondrial leucyl-tRNA synthetase (mLRS) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is involved in both mitochondrial protein synthesis and pre-mRNA splicing. We have created mutations in the regions HIGH, GWD and KMSKS, which are involved in ATP-, amino acid- and tRNA-binding respectively, and which have been conserved in the evolution of group I tRNA synthetases. The mutants GRD and NMSKS have no discernible phenotype. The mutants AWD and ARD act as null alleles and lead to the production of 100% cytoplasmic petites. The mutants HIGN, NIGH and KMSNS are unable to grow on glycerol even in the presence of an intronless mitochondrial genome and accumulate petites to a greater extent than the wild-type but less than 40%. Experiments with an imported bI4 maturase indicate that the lesion in these mutations primarily affects the synthetase and not the splicing functions.