RNA editing within the mitochondria of African trypanosomes is characterized by the insertion and deletion of uridylate residues into otherwise incomplete primary transcripts. The reaction takes place in a high molecular mass ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex of uncertain composition. Furthermore, factors that interact with the RNP complex during the reaction are by and large unknown. Here we present evidence for an editing-related biochemical activity of the gRNA-binding protein gBP21. Using recombinant gBP21 preparations, we show that the protein stimulates the annealing of gRNAs to cognate pre-mRNAs in vitro. This represents the presumed first step of the editing reaction. Kinetic data establish an enhancement of the second order rate constant for the gRNA- pre-mRNA interaction. gBP21-mediated annealing is not exclusive for RNA editing substrates since complementary RNAs, unrelated to the editing process, can also be hybridized. The gBP21-dependent RNA annealing activity was identified in mitochondrial extracts of trypanosomes and can be inhibited by immunoprecipitation of the polypeptide. The data suggest a factor-like contribution of gBP21 to the RNA editing process by accelerating the rate of gRNA-pre-mRNA anchor formation.

The SNQ2 gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which encodes an ATP binding cassette protein responsible for resistance to the mutagen 4-nitroquinoline oxide, is regulated by the DNA-binding proteins PDR1 and PDR3. In a plasma membrane-enriched fraction from a pdr1 mutant, the SNQ2 protein is found in the 160-kDa over-expressed band, together with PDR5. The SNQ2 protein was solubilized with n-dodecyl beta-D-maltoside from the plasma membranes of a PDR5-deleted strain and separated from the PMA1 H(+/-)ATPase by sucrose gradient centrifugation. The enzyme shows a nucleoside triphosphatase activity that differs biochemically from that of PDR5 (Decottignies, A., Kolaczkowski, M., Balzi, E., and Goffeau, A. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 12797-12803) and is sensitive to vanadate, erythrosine B, and Triton X-100 but not to oligomycin, which inhibits the PDR5 activity only. Disruption of both PDR5 and SNQ2 in a pdr1 mutant decreases the cell growth rate and reveals the presence of at least two other ATP binding cassette proteins in the 160-kDa overexpressed band that have been identified by amino-terminal microsequencing.

Multiple or pleiotropic drug resistance often occurs in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae through genetic activation of the Cys 6 -Zn(II) transcription factors Pdr1p and Pdr3p. Hyperactive alleles of these proteins cause overproduction of target genes that include drug efflux pumps, which in turn confer high level drug resistance. Here we provide evidence that both Pdr1p and Pdr3p act to regulate production of an enzyme involved in sphingolipid biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae. The last step in formation of the major sphingolipid in the yeast plasma membrane, mannosyldiinositol phosphorylceramide, is catalyzed by the product of the IPT1 gene, inositol phosphotransferase (Ipt1p). Transcription of the IPT1 gene is responsive to changes in activity of Pdr1p and Pdr3p. A single Pdr1p/Pdr3p response element is present in the IPT1 promoter and is required for regulation by these factors. Loss of IPT1 has complex effects on drug resistance of the resulting strain, consistent with an important role for mannosyldiinositol phosphorylceramide in normal plasma membrane function. Direct assay for lipid contents of cells demonstrates that changes in sphingolipid composition correlate with changes in the activity of Pdr3p. These data suggest that Pdr1p and Pdr3p may act to modulate the lipid composition of membranes in S. cerevisiae through activation of sphingolipid biosynthesis along with other target genes.

We report the characterization of a Trypanosoma brucei 75-kDa protein of the RGG (Arg-Gly-Gly) type, termed TBRGG1. Dicistronic and monocistronic transcripts of the TBRGG1 gene were produced by both alternative splicing and polyadenylation. TBRGG1 was found in two or three forms that differ in their electrophoretic mobility on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis gels, one of which was more abundant in the procyclic form of the parasite. TBRGG1 was localized to the mitochondrion and appeared to be more abundant in bloodstream intermediate and stumpy forms in which the mitochondrion reactivates and during the procyclic stage, which possesses a fully functional mitochondrion. This protein was characterized to display oligo(U) binding characteristics and was found to co-localize with an in vitro RNA editing activity in a sedimentation analysis. TBRGG1 most likely corresponds to the 83-kDa oligo(U)-binding protein previously identified by UV crosslinking of guide RNA to mitochondrial lysates (Leegwater, P., Speijer, D., and Benne, R. (1995) Eur. J. Biochem. 227, 780 -786).Trypanosomes are primitive eukaryotes whose parasitic life cycle involves the differentiation into several successive adaptive forms in different hosts and environments. The main developmental stages are the bloodstream form in the mammalian host and the procyclic form in the tsetse fly vector. Each of these stages is characterized by a major surface protein, the variant surface glycoprotein in the bloodstream form and procyclin in the procyclic form (1, 2). Another major difference between these forms is the energy metabolism. Bloodstream forms possess an inactive mitochondrion and respire through the catabolism of glucose in specialized organelles termed glycosomes, whereas procyclic forms utilize a fully functional mitochondrion for oxidative phosphorylation, and amino acids probably serve as the major carbon source in vivo (3). In the bloodstream, the mitochondrion is reactivated when the trypanosomes differentiate from the proliferative slender form into the quiescent stumpy form through several intermediate stages.The nuclear genome of these organisms appears to be organized in long polycistronic transcription units and probably contains only a few promoters (4 -7). The expression of many genes analyzed so far appears to be stage-specific and reflects the developmental stage of the parasite. Interestingly, genes belonging to the same transcription unit are often differentially stage-regulated, indicating that post-transcriptional processes operating at the levels of RNA maturation, stability, and translation are primarily responsible for controlling cellular differentiation (4 -7). The primary polycistronic transcripts of trypanosomes are rapidly processed into mature mRNAs by trans-splicing and polyadenylation. These processing events appear to be coupled, the choice of a polyadenylation site being apparently dictated by the position of the downstream splice site, probably through the scanning of transcripts by a multifactorial complex enc...

Summary The plasma membrane H+‐ATPase couples ATP hydrolysis to proton transport, thereby establishing the driving force for solute transport across the plasma membrane. In Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, this enzyme is encoded by at least nine pma (plasma membrane H+‐ATPase) genes. Four of these are classified into two gene subfamilies, pma1‐2‐3 and pma4, which are the most highly expressed in plant species. We have isolated genomic clones for pma2 and pma4. Mapping of their transcript 5′ end revealed the presence of a long leader that contained small open reading frames, regulatory features typical of other pma genes. The gusA reporter gene was then used to determine the expression of pma2, pma3 and pma4 in N. tabacum. These data, together with those obtained previously for pma1, led to the following conclusions. (i) The four pma–gusA genes were all expressed in root, stem, leaf and flower organs, but each in a cell‐type specific manner. Expression in these organs was confirmed at the protein level, using subfamily‐specific antibodies. (ii) pma4–gusA was expressed in many cell types and notably in root hair and epidermis, in companion cells, and in guard cells, indicating that in N. plumbaginifolia the same H+‐ATPase isoform might be involved in mineral nutrition, phloem loading and control of stomata aperture. (iii) The second gene subfamily is composed, in N. plumbaginifolia, of a single gene (pma4) with a wide expression pattern and, in Arabidopsis thaliana, of three genes (aha1, aha2, aha3), at least two of them having a more restrictive expression pattern. (iv) Some cell types expressed pma2 and pma4 at the same time, which encode H+‐ATPases with different enzymatic properties.