Trans-splicing mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii the three exons of the psaA gene are widely scattered on the chloroplast genome: exons 1 and 2 are in opposite orientations and distant from each other and from exon 3. The mature mRNA, encoding a core polypeptide of photosystem I, is thus probably assembled from separate precursors by splicing in trans. We have isolated and characterized a set of mutants that are deficient in the maturation of psaA mRNA. The mutants belong to 14 nuclear complementation groups and one chloroplast locus that are required for the assembly of psaA mRNA. The chloroplast locus, tscA, is remote from any of the exons and must encode a factor required in trans. The mutants all show one of only three phenotypes that correspond to defects in one or other or both of the joining reactions. These phenotypes, and those of double mutants, are consistent with the existence of two alternative splicing pathways.