Two adjacent nuclear genes, ISF1 and NAM7/UPF1, cooperatively participate in mitochondrial functions in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We previously isolated a nuclear 5.7 kb genomic fragment carrying the NAM7/UPF1 gene, which is able to suppress mitochondrial splicing deficiency when present in multiple copies. We show here that an immediately adjacent gene ISF1 (Increasing Suppression Factor) increases the efficiency of the NAM7/UPF1 suppressor activity. The ISF1 gene has been independently isolated as the MBR3 gene and comparison of the ISF1 predicted protein sequence with data libraries revealed a significant similarity with the MBR1 yeast protein. The ISF1 and NAM7 genes are transcribed in the same direction, and RNAse mapping allowed the precise location of their termini within the intergenic region to be determined. The ISF1 gene is not essential for cell viability or respiratory growth. However as for many mitochondrial genes, ISF1 expression is sensitive to fermentative repression; in contrast expression of the NAM7 gene is unaffected by glucose. We propose that ISF1 could influence the NAM7/UPF1 function, possibly at the level of mRNA turnover, thus modulating the expression of nuclear genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis.