Cardiolipin (CL) is a unique phospholipid which is present throughout the eukaryotic kingdom and is localized in mitochondrial membranes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells containing a disruption of CRD1, the structural gene encoding CL synthase, have no CL in mitochondrial membranes. To elucidate the physiological role of CL, we compared mitochondrial functions in the crd1Δ mutant and isogenic wild type. Thecrd1Δ mutant loses viability at elevated temperature, and prolonged culture at 37 °C leads to loss of the mitochondrial genome. Mutant membranes have increased phosphatidylglycerol (PG) when grown in a nonfermentable carbon source but have almost no detectable PG in medium containing glucose. In glucose-grown cells, maximum respiratory rate, ATPase and cytochrome oxidase activities, and protein import are deficient in the mutant. The ADP/ATP carrier is defective even during growth in a nonfermentable carbon source. The mitochondrial membrane potential is decreased in mutant cells. The decrease is more pronounced in glucose-grown cells, which lack PG, but is also apparent in membranes containing PG (i.e. in nonfermentable carbon sources). We propose that CL is required for maintaining the mitochondrial membrane potential and that reduced membrane potential in the absence of CL leads to defects in protein import and other mitochondrial functions. Cardiolipin (CL) is a unique phospholipid which is present throughout the eukaryotic kingdom and is localized in mitochondrial membranes. Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells containing a disruption of CRD1, the structural gene encoding CL synthase, have no CL in mitochondrial membranes. To elucidate the physiological role of CL, we compared mitochondrial functions in the crd1Δ mutant and isogenic wild type. Thecrd1Δ mutant loses viability at elevated temperature, and prolonged culture at 37 °C leads to loss of the mitochondrial genome. Mutant membranes have increased phosphatidylglycerol (PG) when grown in a nonfermentable carbon source but have almost no detectable PG in medium containing glucose. In glucose-grown cells, maximum respiratory rate, ATPase and cytochrome oxidase activities, and protein import are deficient in the mutant. The ADP/ATP carrier is defective even during growth in a nonfermentable carbon source. The mitochondrial membrane potential is decreased in mutant cells. The decrease is more pronounced in glucose-grown cells, which lack PG, but is also apparent in membranes containing PG (i.e. in nonfermentable carbon sources). We propose that CL is required for maintaining the mitochondrial membrane potential and that reduced membrane potential in the absence of CL leads to defects in protein import and other mitochondrial functions. cardiolipin phosphatidylglycerol phosphatidylglycerolphosphate ADP/ATP carrier yeast extract-peptone-dextrose yeast extract-peptone-glycerol yeast extract-peptone-glycerol-ethanol bongkrekate carboxyatractylate bovine serum albumin 4-morpholinepropanesulfonic acid polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis Cardiolipin (1,3-bis (1′, 2′-diacyl-3′-phosphoryl-sn-glycerol)-sn-glycerol (CL))1 is a structurally unique phospholipid that carries four acyl groups and two negative charges. It is thus highly hydrophobic and acidic. The biosynthesis of CL occurs in three enzymatic steps (1.Cobon G.S. Crowfoot P.D. Linnane A.W. Biochem. J. 1974; 144: 265-275Crossref PubMed Scopus (74) Google Scholar, 2.Steiner M.R. Lester R.I. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1972; 260: 222-243Crossref PubMed Scopus (108) Google Scholar, 3.van den Bosch H. van Golde L.M.G. van Deenen L.L.M. Rev. Physiol. Biochem. Exp. Pharmacol. 1972; 66: 13-145Google Scholar). Phosphatidylglycerolphosphate (PGP) synthase catalyzes the formation of PGP from phosphatidyl-CMP (CDP-diacylglycerol; CDP-DG) and glycerol 3-phosphate. PGP is then dephosphorylated to phosphatidylglycerol (PG) by PGP phosphatase. Eukaryotes and bacteria utilize different reactions to convert PG to CL. In prokaryotes, CL synthase catalyzes a phosphatidyl transfer between two PG molecules (4.Hirschberg C.B. Kennedy E.P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1972; 69: 648-651Crossref PubMed Scopus (132) Google Scholar). This is a near-equilibrium (transesterification) reaction that is mainly controlled by substrate availability. In contrast, eukaryotic CL synthase catalyzes a phosphatidyl transfer from CDP-DG to PG (5.Hostetler K.Y. van den Bosch H. van Deenen L.L.M. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1972; 260: 507-513Crossref PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar, 6.Tamai K.T. Greenberg M.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1990; 1046: 214-222Crossref PubMed Scopus (59) Google Scholar, 7.Schlame M. Brody S. Hostetler K.Y. Eur. J. Biochem. 1993; 212: 727-735Crossref PubMed Scopus (144) Google Scholar). This is an irreversible reaction that involves cleavage of a high energy anhydride bond. This reaction can take place in the presence of low substrate concentration and is mainly regulated by CL synthase activity. The differences in these reactions probably reflect different functions of PG and CL in prokaryotes and mitochondria.In Escherichia coli, the enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of CL have been characterized biochemically, and the genes encoding these enzymes have been cloned. Although disruption of thecls gene (encoding CL synthase) is not lethal, bacterial strains bearing a null allele of pgsA (encoding PGP synthase) are inviable (8.Nishijima S. Asami Y. Uetake N. Yamagoe S. Ohta A. Shibuya I. J. Bacteriol. 1988; 170: 775-780Crossref PubMed Google Scholar, 9.Heacock P.N. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 14972-14977Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). Interestingly, bacterial clsnull mutants do synthesize CL, presumably by another enzyme. These experiments suggest that the anionic phospholipids PG and/or CL are essential for bacterial viability.In eukaryotic cells, CL is found primarily in mitochondrial membranes (10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar). Because of its acidic and hydrophobic nature, CL has the ability to interact with many different proteins (10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar, 11.Schlame M. Greenberg M.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1997; 1348: 201-206Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar). It is associated with the major proteins of oxidative phosphorylation, including complex V (ATP synthase), respiratory complexes I, III, and IV, as well as the carrier proteins for phosphate and adenine nucleotides (12.Fry M. Green D.E. J. Biol. Chem. 1981; 256: 1874-1880Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 13.Hayer-Hartl M. Schagger H. von Jagow G. Beyer K. Eur. J. Biochem. 1992; 209: 423-430Crossref PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar, 14.Robinson N.C. J. Bioenerg. Biomembr. 1993; 25: 153-162Crossref PubMed Scopus (223) Google Scholar, 15.Eble K.S. Coleman W.B. Hantgan R.R. Cunningham C.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1990; 265: 19434-19440Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 16.Kadenbach B. Mende P. Kolbe H.V.J. Stipani I. Palmieri F. FEBS Lett. 1982; 139: 109-112Crossref PubMed Scopus (114) Google Scholar, 17.Beyer K. Klingenberg M. Biochem. 1985; 24: 3821-3826Crossref PubMed Scopus (272) Google Scholar). Trivedi et al. (18.Trivedi A. Wearring A.V. Kohlwein S.D. Paltauf F. Tustanoff E.R. Lemasters J.J. Hackenbrock C.R. Thurman R.G. Weterhoff H.V. Integration of Mitochondrial Function. Plenum Publishing, New York1988: 87-94Crossref Google Scholar) showed that a temperature-sensitive yeast mutant that had reduced CL at the elevated temperature had a concomitant decrease in cytochrome oxidase activity. In vitro experiments suggest that mitochondrial inner membrane integrity may depend specifically on CL, because enzymatic digestion of CL, but not PE or PC, correlates with the disruption of structure (19.Awasthi T.Y. Berezney R. Ruzicka F.J. Crane F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1969; 189: 457-460Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar). Evidence also suggests that CL may be required for import of proteins into the mitochondria, because doxorubicin (which binds irreversibly to CL) inhibits protein import (20.Eilers M. Endo T. Schatz G. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 2945-2950Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 21.Endo T. Eilers M. Schatz G. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 2951-2956Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar).Despite the obvious importance of CL, in vivo experiments to elucidate the role of this lipid and the mechanisms of its regulation have not been previously possible, because of the lack of a model system in which CL levels could be genetically manipulated. The molecular tools are now available to carry out these experiments in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified the S. cerevisiae structural gene encoding CL synthase (CRD1, originally named CLS1) and showed that disruption of theCRD1 gene eliminates CL from mitochondrial membranes (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar). These findings were confirmed by Tuller et al. (23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar) and Chang et al. (24.Chang S.-C. Heacock P.N. Mileykovskaya E. Voelker D.R. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 14933-14941Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (166) Google Scholar). Growth of the crd1Δ mutant in glucose or nonfermentable carbon sources is largely unaffected at 30 °C; however, at elevated temperature, the mutant loses viability, even in glucose (25.Jiang F. Gu Z. Granger J. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1999; 31: 373-379Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar). Expression of CRD1 is highly regulated by factors affecting mitochondrial development, including carbon source, growth stage, and the presence of a mitochondrial genome (25.Jiang F. Gu Z. Granger J. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1999; 31: 373-379Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar). These results point to the involvement of CL in critical cellular functions. In this paper, we investigated the role of CL in mitochondrial function by characterizing the physiological effects of eliminating CL from the membrane.DISCUSSIONNumerous in vitro experiments have pointed to the importance of CL in cellular and mitochondrial function (reviewed in Ref. 10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar). The availability of a yeast mutant that cannot synthesize CL provides us with an experimental vehicle to ascertain the role of this lipid. We previously cloned the CRD1 gene encoding CL synthase and constructed a null mutant that contains no CL in its membranes (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar). In this study, we compared cellular and mitochondrial functions in the crd1 null mutant and isogenic wild type strains and conclude the following: 1) The lack of CL in mitochondrial membranes is associated with pleiotropic defects in mitochondrial function, including mitochondrial enzyme activities, maximum respiration rate, oxidative phosphorylation, and protein import. The defects were less apparent in conditions under which mitochondrial membranes contained PG, suggesting that PG can compensate for lack of CL in some, but not all, cellular functions. 2) Mitochondria lacking CL have a significantly decreased membrane potential. The decrease is less pronounced when the membranes contain PG. 3) At elevated temperatures, CL is required for (an) essential cellular function(s) and for maintenance of mitochondrial DNA.Previous studies showed that crd1Δ mutant cells did not exhibit severe growth defects at 30 °C in fermentable or nonfermentable carbon sources (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar, 23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar, 24.Chang S.-C. Heacock P.N. Mileykovskaya E. Voelker D.R. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 14933-14941Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (166) Google Scholar). At least two explanations can account for this observation. One is that, despite its unique structure and localization, CL is largely dispensable for cellular and mitochondrial function. Alternatively, it is possible that CL is essential for optimal mitochondrial function, but PG can compensate to some extent for the loss of CL. The crd1Δ mutant strain FGY2 provides an ideal experimental vehicle with which to distinguish between these possibilities. The mutant is completely lacking in CL, and the presence of PG can be manipulated by growth conditions. Thus, mutant mitochondrial membranes contain PG in nonfermentable carbon sources, whereas in fermentable carbon sources, PG is undetectable throughout the logarithmic growth phase and only slightly detectable in early stationary phase (Table II and data not shown). Tuller et al. (23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar) also reported the absence of PG in glucose-growncrd1Δ mutant cells. (The growth stage in which their phospholipid analyses were carried out was not indicated.) Controlling PG content in this manner, we determined that, in the absence of PG, the maximum respiration rate and activities of respiratory enzymes are decreased in the mutant (Table III). In the presence of PG, these activities are comparable with wild type. Thus, it appears that some acidic phospholipid is needed for these functions and that PG can compensate for the lack of CL. It is possible that other phospholipids may be able to compensate for the lack of CL. Phosphatidic acid might be a potential CL substitute, owing to its acidic nature. In vitro studies have shown that phosphatidic acid could activate some CL-dependent enzymes, including yeast PGP synthase (51.Jiang F. Kelly B.L. Hagopian K. Greenberg M.L. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 4681-4688Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (11) Google Scholar) and beef heart cytochrome c oxidase (52.Goormaghtigh E. Brasseur R. Ruysschaert J.-M. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1982; 104: 314-320Crossref PubMed Scopus (129) Google Scholar). Tulleret al. (23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar) did observe an increase in phosphatidic acid in the crd1Δ mutant mitochondria. However, in our strain, no dramatic changes in phosphatidic acid level were apparent in the mutant under any condition tested. Therefore, it is more likely that PG compensates for the lack of CL. This conclusion is further supported by the fact that although disruption of CRD1 led to no severe phenotypes in nonfermentable medium at 30 °C, disruption ofPGS1, the structural gene for PGP synthase, caused severe mitochondrial dysfunction (53.Subik J. FEBS Lett. 1974; 421: 309-312Crossref Scopus (25) Google Scholar, 54.Chang S.-C. Heacock P.N. Clancey C.J. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 9829-9836Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (165) Google Scholar).The decrease in the rate of protein import correlates with a decreased membrane potential in CL-lacking mitochondria, suggesting that one or more components of the respiratory complexes or inner membrane transporters is impaired. Indeed, the activities of cytochrome oxidase and the AAC were reduced in crd1Δ mitochondria. Moreover the activity of the AAC purified from mutant cells grown in nonfermentable medium (and thus containing PG) is reduced compared with wild type (Table IV), indicating that not all CL-requiring functions can be fully compensated by PG. Among the mitochondrial components so far known, the AAC has by far the strongest requirement for CL (17.Beyer K. Klingenberg M. Biochem. 1985; 24: 3821-3826Crossref PubMed Scopus (272) Google Scholar, 55.Hoffmann B. Stockl A. Schlame M. Beyer K. Klingenberg M. J. Biol. Chem. 1994; 269: 1940-1944Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar,56.Drees M. Beyer K. Biochemistry. 1988; 27: 8584-8591Crossref PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar). NMR analysis of isolated bovine heart AAC indicates that six CL molecules are tightly bound to the AAC and can only be released by denaturation (17.Beyer K. Klingenberg M. Biochem. 1985; 24: 3821-3826Crossref PubMed Scopus (272) Google Scholar). Similar high CL content was found in the isolated yeast AAC2 (55.Hoffmann B. Stockl A. Schlame M. Beyer K. Klingenberg M. J. Biol. Chem. 1994; 269: 1940-1944Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). Two additional molecules of CL can be bound loosely but with high specificity (56.Drees M. Beyer K. Biochemistry. 1988; 27: 8584-8591Crossref PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar). Because of the tight binding, the dependence of bovine heart AAC transport on CL could not be shown, because CL was carried over into the reconstituted phospholipid vesicles. However, the yeast AAC (AAC2) has an absolute dependence on CL addition for transport. This is particularly evident in the various cysteine mutants in which Cys is replaced by Ser without any effect on the transport activity (55.Hoffmann B. Stockl A. Schlame M. Beyer K. Klingenberg M. J. Biol. Chem. 1994; 269: 1940-1944Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). In AAC from these mutants, NMR measurements indicate that the bound CL is reduced to about 2–3 mol CL/AAC dimer. The specificity requirement for CL in the activation of AAC in the reconstituted system was very high, and no other acidic phospholipid could replace CL.Viewed in the background of these results, it is not surprising that oxidative phosphorylation is strongly reduced in the mitochondria from CL-deficient cells. This oxidative phosphorylation activity was entirely dependent on the ADP/ATP exchange by the AAC, as shown by the inhibition with BKA and CAT. Respiration is less affected by CL deficiency, probably in line with the lower dependence of the respiratory components on CL. Interestingly, the content of AAC in the deficient mitochondria appears not to be affected, indicating that the AAC present is largely inactivated. The distinct residual activity of the AAC in these mitochondria suggests that the endogenous high content of acidic phospholipids can replace CL to some extent, in contrast to the in vitro situation with reconstituted AAC (55.Hoffmann B. Stockl A. Schlame M. Beyer K. Klingenberg M. J. Biol. Chem. 1994; 269: 1940-1944Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). It seems that, in vivo, AAC is somehow better adapted by subtle rearrangements to the high content of acidic PG, which thus allows for a minimum transport activity. After isolation and reconstitution, the AAC from CL-deficient mitochondria has virtually an absolute dependence on CL. Addition of PG instead of CL did not enhance activity.A key finding in this study is that the mitochondrial inner membrane lacking acidic phospholipids PG and CL has a reduced membrane potential. The decrease is less pronounced in membranes containing PG than in membranes lacking both PG and CL (Fig. 3). The lack of CL may impair the generation of a proton gradient across the inner membrane (by inhibition of the activity of respiratory chain complexes), and/or the maintenance of a proton gradient (by affecting the membrane barrier either directly or via impairment of inner membrane carrier proteins). Either defect may result in a reduction of Δψ. Because oxidative phosphorylation and protein import depend on the presence of a membrane potential, it is likely that their reduced function in thecrd1Δ mutant can be attributed either partly or wholly to the reduced membrane potential.Why is there no detectable PG in mitochondria from glucose-growncrd1Δ mutant cells? One possible explanation may be that PGP synthase activity is defective in the membrane. We did not detect a difference between wild type and mutant specific activity in glucose-grown cells (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar), although Tuller et al. (23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar) found a 70% decrease and Chang and co-workers (24.Chang S.-C. Heacock P.N. Mileykovskaya E. Voelker D.R. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 14933-14941Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (166) Google Scholar) observed a 35% decrease in activity in glucose-grown mutant mitochondria. The variation among these three laboratories may be due to strain differences, growth stage, and/or growth conditions. Strain differences clearly play a role in both PG content and temperature sensitivity, because somecrd1 null mutant strains constructed in other laboratories are not temperature-sensitive. Alternatively, the assay in mitochondrial extracts may not reflect the true in vivoactivity. The enzyme present in the mutant membrane may be incorrectly folded and, thus, inactive. This would be missed in enzyme assays carried out under optimal conditions in the presence of Triton X-100.The loss of viability of the crd1Δ mutant at the elevated temperature suggests that CL is required for some essential cellular function(s). Respiration is not essential for viability of yeast cells during growth in glucose. Protein import is essential; however, the observed decrease in the rate of import is probably not sufficient to account for loss of viability. The temperature sensitivity may be related to loss of AAC activity or to other CL-requiring activities not yet identified. Current experiments are aimed at identifying the essential functions that require CL. Cardiolipin (1,3-bis (1′, 2′-diacyl-3′-phosphoryl-sn-glycerol)-sn-glycerol (CL))1 is a structurally unique phospholipid that carries four acyl groups and two negative charges. It is thus highly hydrophobic and acidic. The biosynthesis of CL occurs in three enzymatic steps (1.Cobon G.S. Crowfoot P.D. Linnane A.W. Biochem. J. 1974; 144: 265-275Crossref PubMed Scopus (74) Google Scholar, 2.Steiner M.R. Lester R.I. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1972; 260: 222-243Crossref PubMed Scopus (108) Google Scholar, 3.van den Bosch H. van Golde L.M.G. van Deenen L.L.M. Rev. Physiol. Biochem. Exp. Pharmacol. 1972; 66: 13-145Google Scholar). Phosphatidylglycerolphosphate (PGP) synthase catalyzes the formation of PGP from phosphatidyl-CMP (CDP-diacylglycerol; CDP-DG) and glycerol 3-phosphate. PGP is then dephosphorylated to phosphatidylglycerol (PG) by PGP phosphatase. Eukaryotes and bacteria utilize different reactions to convert PG to CL. In prokaryotes, CL synthase catalyzes a phosphatidyl transfer between two PG molecules (4.Hirschberg C.B. Kennedy E.P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1972; 69: 648-651Crossref PubMed Scopus (132) Google Scholar). This is a near-equilibrium (transesterification) reaction that is mainly controlled by substrate availability. In contrast, eukaryotic CL synthase catalyzes a phosphatidyl transfer from CDP-DG to PG (5.Hostetler K.Y. van den Bosch H. van Deenen L.L.M. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1972; 260: 507-513Crossref PubMed Scopus (80) Google Scholar, 6.Tamai K.T. Greenberg M.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1990; 1046: 214-222Crossref PubMed Scopus (59) Google Scholar, 7.Schlame M. Brody S. Hostetler K.Y. Eur. J. Biochem. 1993; 212: 727-735Crossref PubMed Scopus (144) Google Scholar). This is an irreversible reaction that involves cleavage of a high energy anhydride bond. This reaction can take place in the presence of low substrate concentration and is mainly regulated by CL synthase activity. The differences in these reactions probably reflect different functions of PG and CL in prokaryotes and mitochondria. In Escherichia coli, the enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of CL have been characterized biochemically, and the genes encoding these enzymes have been cloned. Although disruption of thecls gene (encoding CL synthase) is not lethal, bacterial strains bearing a null allele of pgsA (encoding PGP synthase) are inviable (8.Nishijima S. Asami Y. Uetake N. Yamagoe S. Ohta A. Shibuya I. J. Bacteriol. 1988; 170: 775-780Crossref PubMed Google Scholar, 9.Heacock P.N. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 14972-14977Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). Interestingly, bacterial clsnull mutants do synthesize CL, presumably by another enzyme. These experiments suggest that the anionic phospholipids PG and/or CL are essential for bacterial viability. In eukaryotic cells, CL is found primarily in mitochondrial membranes (10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar). Because of its acidic and hydrophobic nature, CL has the ability to interact with many different proteins (10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar, 11.Schlame M. Greenberg M.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1997; 1348: 201-206Crossref PubMed Scopus (30) Google Scholar). It is associated with the major proteins of oxidative phosphorylation, including complex V (ATP synthase), respiratory complexes I, III, and IV, as well as the carrier proteins for phosphate and adenine nucleotides (12.Fry M. Green D.E. J. Biol. Chem. 1981; 256: 1874-1880Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 13.Hayer-Hartl M. Schagger H. von Jagow G. Beyer K. Eur. J. Biochem. 1992; 209: 423-430Crossref PubMed Scopus (43) Google Scholar, 14.Robinson N.C. J. Bioenerg. Biomembr. 1993; 25: 153-162Crossref PubMed Scopus (223) Google Scholar, 15.Eble K.S. Coleman W.B. Hantgan R.R. Cunningham C.C. J. Biol. Chem. 1990; 265: 19434-19440Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 16.Kadenbach B. Mende P. Kolbe H.V.J. Stipani I. Palmieri F. FEBS Lett. 1982; 139: 109-112Crossref PubMed Scopus (114) Google Scholar, 17.Beyer K. Klingenberg M. Biochem. 1985; 24: 3821-3826Crossref PubMed Scopus (272) Google Scholar). Trivedi et al. (18.Trivedi A. Wearring A.V. Kohlwein S.D. Paltauf F. Tustanoff E.R. Lemasters J.J. Hackenbrock C.R. Thurman R.G. Weterhoff H.V. Integration of Mitochondrial Function. Plenum Publishing, New York1988: 87-94Crossref Google Scholar) showed that a temperature-sensitive yeast mutant that had reduced CL at the elevated temperature had a concomitant decrease in cytochrome oxidase activity. In vitro experiments suggest that mitochondrial inner membrane integrity may depend specifically on CL, because enzymatic digestion of CL, but not PE or PC, correlates with the disruption of structure (19.Awasthi T.Y. Berezney R. Ruzicka F.J. Crane F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1969; 189: 457-460Crossref PubMed Scopus (19) Google Scholar). Evidence also suggests that CL may be required for import of proteins into the mitochondria, because doxorubicin (which binds irreversibly to CL) inhibits protein import (20.Eilers M. Endo T. Schatz G. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 2945-2950Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar, 21.Endo T. Eilers M. Schatz G. J. Biol. Chem. 1989; 264: 2951-2956Abstract Full Text PDF PubMed Google Scholar). Despite the obvious importance of CL, in vivo experiments to elucidate the role of this lipid and the mechanisms of its regulation have not been previously possible, because of the lack of a model system in which CL levels could be genetically manipulated. The molecular tools are now available to carry out these experiments in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified the S. cerevisiae structural gene encoding CL synthase (CRD1, originally named CLS1) and showed that disruption of theCRD1 gene eliminates CL from mitochondrial membranes (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar). These findings were confirmed by Tuller et al. (23.Tuller G. Hrastnik C. Achleitner G. Schiefthaler U. Klein F. Daum G. FEBS Lett. 1998; 421: 15-18Crossref PubMed Scopus (122) Google Scholar) and Chang et al. (24.Chang S.-C. Heacock P.N. Mileykovskaya E. Voelker D.R. Dowhan W. J. Biol. Chem. 1998; 273: 14933-14941Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (166) Google Scholar). Growth of the crd1Δ mutant in glucose or nonfermentable carbon sources is largely unaffected at 30 °C; however, at elevated temperature, the mutant loses viability, even in glucose (25.Jiang F. Gu Z. Granger J. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1999; 31: 373-379Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar). Expression of CRD1 is highly regulated by factors affecting mitochondrial development, including carbon source, growth stage, and the presence of a mitochondrial genome (25.Jiang F. Gu Z. Granger J. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1999; 31: 373-379Crossref PubMed Scopus (51) Google Scholar). These results point to the involvement of CL in critical cellular functions. In this paper, we investigated the role of CL in mitochondrial function by characterizing the physiological effects of eliminating CL from the membrane. DISCUSSIONNumerous in vitro experiments have pointed to the importance of CL in cellular and mitochondrial function (reviewed in Ref. 10.Hoch F.L. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1992; 1113: 71-133Crossref PubMed Scopus (542) Google Scholar). The availability of a yeast mutant that cannot synthesize CL provides us with an experimental vehicle to ascertain the role of this lipid. We previously cloned the CRD1 gene encoding CL synthase and constructed a null mutant that contains no CL in its membranes (22.Jiang F. Rizavi H.S. Greenberg M.L. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 26: 481-489Crossref PubMed Scopus (152) Google Scholar). In this study, we compared cellular and mitochondrial functions in the crd1 null mutant and isogenic wild type strains and conclude the following: 1) The lack of CL in mit