REVIEW: Role of Mitochondrial DNA in Yeast Replicative Aging

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Aglaia V. Azbarova^1,2 and Dmitry A. Knorre^1,a*

¹Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

²Faculty of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, 119991 Moscow, Russia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received August 23, 2023; Revised November 13, 2023; Accepted November 15, 2023

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Despite the diverse manifestations of aging across different species, some common aging features and underlying mechanisms are shared. In particular, mitochondria appear to be among the most vulnerable systems in both metazoa and fungi. In this review, we discuss how mitochondrial dysfunction is related to replicative aging in the simplest eukaryotic model, the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We discuss a chain of events that starts from asymmetric distribution of mitochondria between mother and daughter cells. With age, yeast mother cells start to experience a decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and, consequently, a decrease in mitochondrial protein import efficiency. This induces mitochondrial protein precursors in the cytoplasm, the loss of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and at the later stages – cell death. Interestingly, yeast strains without mtDNA can have either increased or decreased lifespan compared to the parental strains with mtDNA. The direction of the effect depends on their ability to activate compensatory mechanisms preventing or mitigating negative consequences of mitochondrial dysfunction. The central role of mitochondria in yeast aging and death indicates that it is one of the most complex and, therefore, deregulation-prone systems in eukaryotic cells.

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KEY WORDS: yeast, development, aging, mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial dysfunction

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297923120040

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