Eighteen nuclear mutants of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisae, each disturbed in the biosynthesis of the mitochondrially encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and each representing a distinct complementation group, have been examined to identify the level at which COX1 expression is affected. RNA blotting revealed that most have a defect in the processing of COX1 precursor-mRNA; only a few are defective in COX1 transcription and/or pre-mRNA stability. In most RNA-processing mutants, the absence of the COX1 messenger results from a defect in the splicing of one or more COX1 introns. In turn, this defect can be ascribed to a mutation in a nuclear gene which is either directly involved in splicing or else acts indirectly by impairing COX1 translation.