Mitochondria-to-nuclear signaling is regulated by the subcellular localization of the transcription factors Rtg1p and Rtg3p

Cells modulate the expression of nuclear genes in response to changes in the functional state of mitochondria, an interorganelle communication pathway called retrograde regulation. In yeast, expression of the CIT2 gene shows a typical retrograde response in that its expression is dramatically increased in cells with dysfunctional mitochondria, such as in rho(o) petites. Three genes control this signaling pathway: RTG1 and RTG3, which encode basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factors that bind as heterodimer to the CIT2 upstream activation site, and RTG2, which encodes a protein of unknown function. We show that in respiratory-competent (rho(+)) cells in which CIT2 expression is low, Rtg1p and Rtg3p exist as a complex largely in the cytoplasm, and in rho(o) petites in which CIT2 expression is high, they exist as a complex predominantly localized in the nucleus. Cytoplasmic Rtg3p is multiply phosphorylated and becomes partially dephosphorylated when localized in the nucleus. Rtg2p, which is cytoplasmic in both rho(+) and rho(o) cells, is required for the dephosphorylation and nuclear localization of Rtg3p. Interaction of Rtg3p with Rtg1p is required to retain Rtg3p in the cytoplasm of rho(+) cells; in the absence of such interaction, nuclear localization and dephosphorylation of Rtg3p is independent of Rtg2p. Our data show that Rtg1p acts as both a positive and negative regulator of the retrograde response and that Rtg2p acts to transduce mitochondrial signals affecting the phosphorylation state and subcellular localization of Rtg3p.