ATP-binding cassette transporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria

With the goal of learning more about how mitochondria communicate with the rest of the cell, it was searched for, and an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-Binding Cassette Transporter (ABC) transporter was found residing in the mitochondrial inner membrane of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The approach that was adopted involved performing the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on yeast genomic DNA, using degenerate oligonucleotide primers designed on the basis of the homology between ABC transporters. When the gene was cloned and the protein product within the cell was localized by immunofluorescence, it was found that the protein is located in mitochondria therefore the gene was called ATM1 (ABC transporter of mitochondria). Analysis of purified mitochondria confirmed the mitochondrial localization of ATM1 and that it is located in the mitochondrial inner membrane, with its hydrophilic C-terminal domain exposed to the matrix. It is likely that mitochondria contain additional ABC transporters. The approach described in this chapter might be useful in identifying them. © 1995 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.