J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 261, Issue 26, 12066-12073, Sep, 1986
The rate of import and assembly of F1-ATPase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
DJ Burns and AS Lewin
Subunit specific antiserum can be employed to study the course of ATPase
assembly in mitochondria isolated from bakers' yeast. Comparing rates of
subunit import with rates of enzyme assembly indicated that no substantial
pool of unassembled subunits exists for the three largest ATPase peptides
(alpha, beta, and gamma). Blocking import of specific ATPase subunits,
however, did reveal a possible accumulation of unassembled alpha and gamma
subunits in isolated mitochondria. The kinetic experiments also revealed a
lag in the import of beta subunit relative to the uptake of alpha and gamma
precursors. Experiments conducted in yeast cells confirmed that beta
subunit is assembled soon after it is imported, but did not indicate a
delay in import relative to the other subunits of F1.