Article abstract
Nature Cell Biology 1, 298 - 304 (1999)
Published online: 11 August 1999 | doi:10.1038/13014
The dynamin-related GTPase Dnm1 regulates mitochondrial fission in yeast
William Bleazard1, J. Michael McCaffery2, Edward J. King1, Susan Bale1, Amy Mozdy1, Quinton Tieu3, Jodi Nunnari3 & Janet M. Shaw1
Abstract
The dynamin-related GTPase Dnm1 controls mitochondrial morphology in yeast. Here we show that dnm1 mutations convert the mitochondrial compartment into a planar 'net' of interconnected tubules. We propose that this net morphology results from a defect in mitochondrial fission. Immunogold labelling localizes Dnm1 to the cytoplasmic face of constricted mitochondrial tubules that appear to be dividing and to the ends of mitochondrial tubules that appear to have recently completed division. The activity of Dnm1 is epistatic to that of Fzo1, a GTPase in the outer mitochondrial membrane that regulates mitochondrial fusion. dnm1 mutations prevent mitochondrial fragmentation in fzo1 mutant strains.These findings indicate that Dnm1 regulates mitochondrial fission, assembling on the cytoplasmic face of mitochondrial tubules at sites at which division will occur.
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
- Integrated Imaging Center, Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California Davis, California 95616, USA
Correspondence to: Janet M. Shaw1 e-mail: shaw@bioscience.utah.edu
