A mitochondrial phosphatase required for cardiolipin biosynthesis: the PGP phosphatase Gep4

Cardiolipin (CL), a unique dimeric phosphoglycerolipid predominantly present in mitochondrial membranes, has pivotal functions for the cellular energy metabolism, mitochondrial dynamics and the initiation of apoptotic pathways. Perturbations in the mitochondrial CL metabolism cause cardiomyopathy in Barth syndrome. Here, we identify a novel phosphatase in the mitochondrial matrix space, Gep4, and demonstrate that it dephosphorylates phosphatidylglycerolphosphate to generate phosphatidylglycerol, an essential step during CL biosynthesis. Expression of a mitochondrially targeted variant of Escherichia coli phosphatase PgpA restores CL levels in Gep4-deficient cells, indicating functional conservation. A genetic epistasis analysis combined with the identification of intermediates of CL biosynthesis allowed us to integrate Gep4 in the CL-biosynthetic pathway and assign an essential function during early steps of CL synthesis to Tam41, which has previously been shown to be essential for the maintenance of normal CL levels. Our experiments provide the framework for the further dissection of mechanisms that are required for accumulation and maintenance of CL levels in mitochondria

Cardiolipin Mediates Cross-Talk between Mitochondria and the Vacuole

Cardiolipin (CL) is an anionic phospholipid with a dimeric structure predominantly localized in the mitochondrial inner membrane, where it is closely associated with mitochondrial function, biogenesis, and genome stability (Daum, 1985; Janitor and Subik, 1993; Jiang et al., 2000; Schlame et al., 2000; Zhong et al., 2004). Previous studies have shown that yeast mutant cells lacking CL due to a disruption in CRD1, the structural gene encoding CL synthase, exhibit defective colony formation at elevated temperature even on glucose medium (Jiang et al., 1999; Zhong et al., 2004), suggesting a role for CL in cellular processes apart from mitochondrial bioenergetics. In the current study, we present evidence that the crd1Δ mutant exhibits severe vacuolar defects, including swollen vacuole morphology and loss of vacuolar acidification, at 37°C. Moreover, vacuoles from crd1Δ show decreased vacuolar H+-ATPase activity and proton pumping, which may contribute to loss of vacuolar acidification. Deletion mutants in RTG2 and NHX1, which mediate vacuolar pH and ion homeostasis, rescue the defective colony formation phenotype of crd1Δ, strongly suggesting that the temperature sensitivity of crd1Δ is a consequence of the vacuolar defects. Our results demonstrate the existence of a novel mitochondria-vacuole signaling pathway mediated by CL synthesis