Antimutator alleles of yeast DNA polymerase gamma modulate the balance between DNA synthesis and excision

Mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are an important cause of disease and perhaps aging in human. DNA polymerase gamma (pol γ), the unique replicase inside mitochondria, plays a key role in the fidelity of mtDNA replication through selection of the correct nucleotide and 3'-5' exonuclease proofreading. For the first time, we have isolated and characterized antimutator alleles in the yeast pol γ (Mip1). These mip1 mutations, localised in the 3'-5' exonuclease and polymerase domains, elicit a 2-15 fold decrease in the frequency of mtDNA point mutations in an msh1-1 strain which is partially deficient in mtDNA mismatch-repair. In vitro experiments show that in all mutants the balance between DNA synthesis and exonucleolysis is shifted towards excision when compared to wild-type, suggesting that in vivo more opportunity is given to the editing function for removing the replicative errors. This results in partial compensation for the mismatch-repair defects and a decrease in mtDNA point mutation rate. However, in all mutants but one the antimutator trait is lost in the wild-type MSH1 background. Accordingly, the polymerases of selected mutants show reduced oligonucleotide primed M13 ssDNA synthesis and to a lesser extent DNA binding affinity, suggesting that in mismatch-repair proficient cells efficient DNA synthesis is required to reach optimal accuracy. In contrast, the Mip1-A256T polymerase, which displays wild-type like DNA synthesis activity, increases mtDNA replication fidelity in both MSH1 and msh1-1 backgrounds. Altogether, our data show that accuracy of wild-type Mip1 is probably not optimal and can be improved by specific (often conservative) amino acid substitutions that define a pol γ area including a loop of the palm subdomain, two residues near the ExoII motif and an exonuclease helix-coil-helix module in close vicinity to the polymerase domain. These elements modulate in a subtle manner the balance between DNA polymerization and excision.