Characterization and prevalence of a circular mitochondrial plasmid in senescence-prone isolates of Neurospora intermedia

DSouza, Anthony D and Sultana, Shahana and Maheshwari, Ramesh (2005) Characterization and prevalence of a circular mitochondrial plasmid in senescence-prone isolates of Neurospora intermedia. In: Current Genetics, 47 (3). pp. 182-193.

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Abstract

Genetic and molecular analyses of the phenomenon of senescence-i.e., irreversible loss of growth and reproductive potential upon subculturing-in Neurospora intermedia strain M1991-60A, collected from Maddur in southern India, showed the presence of plasmid pMaddur1, which is homologous to the senescence-inducing circular mitochondrial plasmid, pVarkud. Maternal inheritance of senescence in M1991-60A correlated to the formation of variant pMaddur1, its subsequent insertion into mitochondrial (mt)DNA and the accumulation of defective mtDNA with the pMaddur1insert. PCR-based analyses for similar plasmids in 147 natural isolates of Neurospora from Maddur showed that nearly 40% of the strains had pMaddur1 or pMaddur2 that shared 97-98% sequence homology with pVarkud and pMauriceville. Nearly 50% of the strains that harbored either pMaddur1 or pMaddur2, also contained a circular Varkud satellite plasmid (pVS). Size polymorphism maps to the cluster of PstI sites in the non-coding region. Whereas senescence of nearly 40% of N. intermedia strains may be due to pMaddur, the presence in seven strains of pVS but not pMaddur and the absence of either of these two plasmids in other senescence-prone isolates suggests yet undiscovered mechanisms of senescence in the Maddur strains.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Current Genetics
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Springer-Verlag.
Keywords:	Senescence;Neurospora;Mitochondria;Plasmids;Circular retroplasmids;pMaddur.
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Biochemistry
Date Deposited:	11 Jan 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:24
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/5659

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