ATP synthase of yeast mitochondria - Isolation of the subunit h and disruption of the ATP14 gene

A new subunit of the yeast ATP synthase (termed subunit h) has been isolated. Amino acid composition and N-terminal sequencing were determined by chemical methods. These data were in agreement with the sequence of the hypothetical protein L8003.20 whose primary structure was deduced from DNA sequencing of the yeast chromosome XII. The amino acid sequence encoded by ATP14 gene is 32 amino acids longer than the mature protein, which contains 92 amino acids corresponding to a calculated mass of 10,408 Da. The protein is hydrophilic and acidic with a calculated pH(i) of 4.08. It is not apparently related to any subunit described in other ATP synthases. A null mutant was constructed. The mutation was recessive and the mutant strain was unable to grow on glycerol medium. A high percentage of rho(-) cells arose spontaneously. The mutant mitochondria had no detectable oligomycin-sensitive ATPase activity, but still contained ATPase activity with a catalytic sector dissociated from the membranous components. The mutant mitochondria did not contain subunit h, and the mitochondrially encoded hydrophobic subunit 6 was not present.