Identification of novel mitochondrial membrane protein (Cdf 3) from Arabidopsis thaliana and its functional analysis in a yeast system

We screened the Arabidopsis cDNA library to identify functional suppressors of AtBI-1, a gene that suppresses cell death induced by Bax gene expression in yeast. Cdf 3 encodes a 118-amino-acid protein with a molecular mass of 25 kDa. This protein has two uncharacterized domains at amino acids residues 5-64 and 74-117. In the present study, CDF3 was found to induce growth defects in yeast and arrested yeast growth, although the cell-growth defect was somewhat less than that of Bax. Its localization in the inner mitochondria was essential for suppression of yeast-cell proliferation. The morphological abnormality of the intracellular network, which is a hallmark of AtBI-1, was attenuated by Cdf 3 expression.