Cristae-dependent quality control of the mitochondrial genome
Christopher Jakubke, Rodaria Roussou, Andreas Maiser, Christina Schug, Felix Thoma, David M. Bunk, David Hörl, Heinrich Leonhardt, Peter Walter, Till Klecker, Christof Osman
Abstract
can intracellularly distinguish between functional and defective mtDNA and promote generation of daughter cells with increasingly healthy mtDNA content. Purifying selection for functional mtDNA occurs in a continuous mitochondrial network and does not require mitochondrial fission but necessitates stable mitochondrial subdomains that depend on intact cristae morphology. Our findings support a model in which cristae-dependent proximity between mtDNA and the proteins it encodes creates a spatial “sphere of influence,” which links a lack of functional fitness to clearance of defective mtDNA.