Modulation of the glyoxalase system in the aging model Podospora anserina: effects on growth and lifespan

Abstract Vegetative incompatibility, which is very common in filamentous fungi, prevents a viable heterokaryotic cell from being formed by the fusion of filaments from two different wild-type strains. Such incompatibility is always the consequence of at least one genetic difference in specific genes (het genes). In Podospora anserina, alleles of the het-e and het-d loci control heterokaryon viability through genetic interactions with alleles of the unlinked het-c locus. The het-d2Y gene was isolated and shown to have strong similarity with the previously described het-e1A gene. Like the HET-E protein, the HET-D putative protein displayed a GTP-binding domain and seemed to require a minimal number of 11 WD40 repeats to be active in incompatibility. Apart from incompatibility specificity, no other function could be identified by disrupting the het-d gene. Sequence comparison of different het-e alleles suggested that het-e specificity is determined by the sequence of the WD40 repeat domain. In particular, the amino acids present on the upper face of the predicted β-propeller structure defined by this domain may confer the incompatible interaction specificity.

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Cytosolic Ribosomal Mutations That Abolish Accumulation of Circular Intron in the Mitochondria Without Preventing Senescence of Podospora anserina

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/145.3.697 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 145 (3) ◽

pp. 697-705 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Philippe Silar ◽

France Koll ◽

Michèle Rossignol

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Ribosomal Proteins ◽

Podospora Anserina ◽

Cox1 Gene ◽

Accuracy Control ◽

Additional Function ◽

Mutant Proteins ◽

Double Stranded Dna ◽

Dna Modifications

The filamentous fungus Podospora anserina presents a degeneration syndrome called Senescence associated with mitochondrial DNA modifications. We show that mutations affecting the two different and interacting cytosolic ribosomal proteins (S7 and S19) systematically and specifically prevent the accumulation of senDNAα (a circular double-stranded DNA plasmid derived from the first intron of the mitochondrial cox1 gene or intron α) without abolishing Senescence nor affecting the accumulation of other usually observed mitochondrial DNA rearrangements. One of the mutant proteins is homologous to the Escherichia coli S4 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae S13 ribosomal proteins, known to be involved in accuracy control of cytosolic translation. The lack of accumulation of senDNAα seems to result from a nontrivial ribosomal alteration unrelated to accuracy control, indicating that S7 and S19 proteins have an additional function. The results strongly suggest that modified expression of nucleus-encoded proteins contributes to Senescence in P. anserina. These data do not fit well with some current models, which propose that intron α plays the role of the cytoplasmic and infectious Determinant of Senescence that was defined in early studies.

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