Transcriptome Analyses of Mosaic (MSC) Mitochondrial Mutants of Cucumber in a Highly Inbred Nuclear Background.

Cucumber ( L.) has a large, paternally transmitted mitochondrial genome. Cucumber plants regenerated from cell cultures occasionally show paternally transmitted mosaic (MSC) phenotypes, characterized by slower growth, chlorotic patterns on the leaves and fruit, lower fertility, and rearrangements in their mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs).

Cucumber Possesses a Single Terminal Alternative Oxidase Gene That is Upregulated by Cold Stress and in the Mosaic (MSC) Mitochondrial Mutants.

Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a mitochondrial terminal oxidase which is responsible for an alternative route of electron transport in the respiratory chain. This nuclear-encoded enzyme is involved in a major path of survival under adverse conditions by transfer of electrons from ubiquinol instead of the main cytochrome pathway. AOX protects against unexpected inhibition of the cytochrome c oxidase pathway and plays an important role in stress tolerance.