MOLECULAR ANALYSIS OF REVERTANTS FROM A RESPIRATORY-DEFICIENT MUTANT AFFECTING THE CENTER O DOMAIN OF CYTOCHROME-B IN SACCHAROMYCES-CEREVISIAE

In bc complexes, cytochrome b plays a major role in electron transfer and in proton translocation accross the membrane. Several inhibitor-resistant and respiratory-deficient mutants have already been used to study the structure-function relationships of this integral membrane protein. We describe here the selection and the molecular analysis of revertants from a thermo-sensitive mit-mutant of known nucleotide changes. Among 80 independent pseudo-wild type revertants screened by DNA-labelled oligonucleotide hybridization, 33 have been sequenced. Eight suppressor mutations, affecting a region critical for both the function and the binding of center o inhibitors (end of helix C) were identified. Two of them were found to be more resistant to myxothiazol.