THE ABSENCE OF INTRONS IN YEAST MITOCHONDRIA DOES NOT ABOLISH MITOCHONDRIAL RECOMBINATION

The respiratory competency of a yeast strain devoid of mitchondrial introns is quite normal. However, it may be asked whether intron-encoded proteins participate in metabolisms other than those of mitochondrial introns. Using strains without mitochondrial introns we have answered two questions. The first was: does the absence of intron-encoded proteins abolsh mitochondrial recombination? The second was: do mitochondrial introns and intron-encoded proteins play a part in mitochondrial DNA rearrangements induced by ethidium bromide (rho- production)? We have shown that the introns and intron-encoded proteins are not essential essential components of either phenomenon. © 1990 Springer-Verlag.