Transcription and processing of mitochondrial RNA in the human pathogen Acanthamoeba castellanii

• A. castellanii mitochondrial genome is transcribed as polycistronic transcripts.
• 6 major polycistronic transcripts are detected in the A. castellanii mitochondria.
• Major transcripts are processed from an even larger RNA transcript.
• tRNAs act as excision signals for processing of the larger transcript.
• Transcripts are further processed to mature mono-, di- and tricistronic transcripts.

The size, structure, gene content and organisation of mitochondrial genomes can be highly diverse especially amongst the protists. We investigated the transcription and processing of the mitochondrial genome of the opportunistic pathogen Acanthamoeba castellanii and here we present a detailed transcription map of the 41.6 kb genome that encodes 33 proteins, 16 tRNAs and 2 rRNAs. Northern hybridisation studies identified six major polycistronic transcripts, most of which are co-transcriptionally processed into smaller mono-, di- and tricistronic RNAs. The maturation of the polycistronic transcripts is likely to involve endonucleolytic cleavage where tRNAs serve as processing signals. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions across the intervening regions between the six major polycistronic transcripts suggest that these transcripts were once part of an even larger transcript. Our findings indicate that the mitochondrial genome of A. castellanii is transcribed from only one or two promoters, very similar to the mode of transcription in the mitochondria of its close relative Dictyostelium discoideum, where transcription is known to occur from only a single transcription initiation site. Transcription initiation from a minimal number of promoters despite a large genome size may be an emerging trend in the mitochondria of protists.