Supramolecular organization of the respiratory chain in Neurospora crassa mitochondria

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2007

Authors

marques, i (Author) Other; dencher, na (Author) Other; videira, a (Author) ICBAS; krause, f (Author) Other

Journal

Title: Eukaryotic Cell

Vol. 6

Pages: 2391-2405

ISSN: 1535-9778

Publisher: American Society for Microbiology

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 37 Citations

Scopus - 40 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-004-5YC

DOI: 10.1128/EC.00149-07

Abstract (EN): The existence of specific respiratory supercomplexes in mitochondria of most organisms has gained much momentum. However, its functional significance is still poorly understood. The availability of many deletion mutants in complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) of Neurospora crassa, distinctly affected in the assembly process, offers unique opportunities to analyze the biogenesis of respiratory supercomplexes. Herein, we describe the role of complex I in assembly of respiratory complexes and supercomplexes as suggested by blue and colorless native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analyses of mildly solubilized mitochondria from the wild type and eight deletion mutants. As an important refinement of the fungal respirasome model, we found that the standard respiratory chain of N. crassa comprises putative complex I dimers in addition to I-III-IV and III-IV supercomplexes. Three Neurospora mutants able to assemble a complete complex I, lacking only the disrupted subunit, have respiratory supercomplexes, in particular I-III-IV supercomplexes and complex I dimers, like the wild-type strain. Furthermore, we were able to detect the I-III-IV supercomplexes in the nuo51 mutant with no overall enzymatic activity, representing the first example of inactive respirasomes. In addition, III-IV supercomplexes were also present in strains lacking an assembled complex I, namely, in four membrane arm subunit mutants as well as in the peripheral arm nuo30.4 mutant. In membrane arm mutants, high-molecular-mass species of the 30.4-kDa peripheral arm subunit comigrating with III-IV supercomplexes and/or the prohibitin complex were detected. The data presented herein suggest that the biogenesis of complex I is linked with its assembly into supercomplexes.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific