The mitochondrial URF1 gene in Neurospora crassa has an intron that contains a novel type of URF

Abstract

In Neurospora crassa, a 2670 base-pair segment of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced including a gene homologous to the mammalian URF1 that was recently shown to encode a subunit of the respiratory chain NADH dehydrogenase complex. URF1 of N. crassa is interrupted by an intron of 1118 base-pairs that divides the protein-coding sequence into two exons of 636 and 480 base-pairs length, respectively. The deduced URF1 polypeptide of 371 residues was aligned with that of other eukaryotes, revealing a degree of conservation similar to that of ubiquitous mitochondrial genes. The two highly conserved stretches coincide with the most polar regions of the otherwise hydrophobic URF1 polypeptides and may constitute functional domains of the complex I subunit. In the exon sequences of URF1, 17 codons occur that are infrequently utilized in other mitochondrial genes of N. crassa, indicating a low translational efficiency or a foreign origin of URF1. The URF1 intron is inserted in the most conserved region. It belongs to group I and contains an open reading frame of 305 codons not continuous with the upstream exon. Sequences convincingly homologous to conserved group I decapeptide motifs were not found in the URF1 intronic unassigned reading frame (URF). However, significant homology was detected to intronic URFs of the respective gene from Podospora anserina, suggesting that these reading frames constitute a novel type of group I intronic URFs. Three species of URF1 transcripts were identified. They arise most probably by subsequent removal of the intron and leader sequences from an URF1 precursor transcript.