Volume-related mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis in zygotes and vegetative cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Regulation with cell size ensures mitochondrial DNA homeostasis during cell growth

To maintain stable DNA concentrations, proliferating cells need to coordinate DNA replication with cell growth. For nuclear DNA, eukaryotic cells achieve this by coupling DNA replication to cell-cycle progression, ensuring that DNA is doubled exactly once per cell cycle. By contrast, mitochondrial DNA replication is typically not strictly coupled to the cell cycle, leaving the open question of how cells maintain the correct amount of mitochondrial DNA during cell growth. Here, we show that in budding yeast, mitochondrial DNA copy number increases with cell volume, both in asynchronously cycling populations and during G1 arrest. Our findings suggest that cell-volume-dependent mitochondrial DNA maintenance is achieved through nuclear-encoded limiting factors, including the mitochondrial DNA polymerase Mip1 and the packaging factor Abf2, whose amount increases in proportion to cell volume. By directly linking mitochondrial DNA maintenance to nuclear protein synthesis and thus cell growth, constant mitochondrial DNA concentrations can be robustly maintained without a need for cell-cycle-dependent regulation.

Net synthesis of chloroplast DNA throughout the synchronized vegetative cell-cycle of Chlamydomonas

The accumulation of chloroplast and nuclear DNAs during the 12 h light and 12 h dark synchronized vegetative cell-cycle of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was monitored by the direct optical quantification of these DNAs in the analytical ultracentrifuge. Net synthesis of nuclear DNA was sharply discontinuous and this synthesis occurred during the first 6 h of the dark period. In contrast, the net synthesis of chloroplast DNA appeared continuous throughout the cell-cycle. The rate of this accumulation, however, was greatest in the dark period.