Gcn5 histone acetyltransferase is present in the mitoplasts

Arianna Montanari; Manuela Leo; Veronica De Luca; Patrizia Filetici; Silvia Francisci

doi:10.1242/bio.041244

Gcn5 histone acetyltransferase is present in the mitoplasts

Biol Open. 2019 Feb 18;8(2):bio041244. doi: 10.1242/bio.041244.

Authors

Arianna Montanari^{1

2}, Manuela Leo³, Veronica De Luca³, Patrizia Filetici⁴, Silvia Francisci³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy ari.montanari@uniroma1.it.
² Pasteur Institute Italy - Cenci Bolognetti Foundation, Sapienza University of Rome, Viale Regina Elena 291, 00161 Rome, Italy.
³ Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "Charles Darwin", Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.
⁴ Institute of Molecular Biology and Pathology - CNR, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy.

Abstract

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae the Lysine-acetyltransferase Gcn5 (KAT2) is part of the SAGA complex and is responsible for histone acetylation widely or at specific lysines. In this paper we report that G CN5 deletion differently affects the growth of two strains. The defective mitochondrial phenotype is related to a marked decrease in mtDNA content, which also involves the deletion of specific regions of the molecule. We also show that in wild-type mitochondria the Gcn5 protein is present in the mitoplasts, suggesting a new mitochondrial function independent from the SAGA complex and possibly a new function for this protein connecting epigenetics and metabolism.

Keywords: Lysine-acetyltransferase Gcn5; Mitochondria; Mitochondrial DNA; Respiration; Yeast.