Molecular characterization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Sco2p reveals a high degree of redundancy with Sco1p

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene SCO1 has been shown to play an essential role in the transfer of copper to the Cu-A-centre of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit Cox2p. By contrast, the function of Sco2p, the gene product of the highly homologous SCO2 gene, remains to be elucidated. Deletion of the SCO2 gene does not affect growth on a variety of carbon sources, including glycerol, lactate and ethanol. We report here, that Sco2p is anchored in the mitochondrial membrane by a single transmembrane segment and displays a similar tripartite structure as Sco1p. Most parts of Sco1p can be replaced by the homologous parts of Sco2p without loss of function. A short stretch of 13 amino acids, immediately adjacent to the transmembrane region, is crucial for Sco1p function and cannot be replaced by its Sco2p counterpart. We propose that this region is relevant for the correct spatial orientation of the C-terminal part of the protein. Immunoprecipitation and in vitro binding assays show that Sco2p interacts with the C-terminal portion of Cox2p. This interaction is neither dependent on bound copper ions nor on the presence of Sco1p. Furthermore we report on in vitro binding assays which show that Sco2p can form homomeric complexes, but also heteromeric complexes with Sco1p. Our data suggest that Sco2p is involved in the transfer of copper to Cox2p, but that this activity is insufficient for oxidative growth and not able to substitute for Sco1p activity. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.