Project description:Cellular differentiation is driven by coordinately regulated changes in gene expression. Translational control of gene expression is increasingly recognized as pervasive and quantitatively significant, but the mechanisms responsible for widespread changes in gene-specific translation activity are largely unknown. Here we investigate the mechanisms responsible for translational reprogramming during cellular adaptation to the absence of glucose, a stimulus that induces invasive filamentous differentiation in yeast. We show that gene-specific translation efficiencies are highly adapted to cellular conditions and that glucose withdrawal is accompanied by widespread translational reprogramming at the level of translation initiation. We demonstrate that transcripts from <5% of genes make up the majority of translating mRNA in both rapidly dividing and starved cells. Moreover, the identities of these highly translated genes are growth-state specific, and they are subject to condition-dependent translational privilege. By comparing glucose starvation to other growth-attenuating stresses, we distinguish a glucose-specific translational response that regulates ribosomal protein and mitochondrial protein-coding genes. This response is mediated through signaling by protein kinase A (PKA). These findings reveal a high degree of growth-state specialization of the translatome and identify PKA as an important regulator of gene-specific translation activity. Examine translational adaptation in yeast in response to glucose starvation
Project description:Theory and experiment suggest that organisms would benefit from pre-adaptation to future stressors based on reproducible environmental fluctuations experienced by their ancestors. Yet mechanisms driving pre-adaptation remain enigmatic. We report that the [SMAUG+] prion allows yeast to anticipate nutrient repletion after periods of starvation, providing a strong selective advantage. By transforming the landscape of post-transcriptional gene expression, [SMAUG+] regulates the decision between two broad growth and survival strategies: mitotic proliferation or meiotic differentiation into a stress-resistant state. [SMAUG+] is common in laboratory yeast strains, where standard propagation practice produces regular cycles of nutrient scarcity followed by repletion. Distinct [SMAUG+] variants are also widespread in wild yeast isolates from multiple niches, establishing that prion polymorphs can be utilized in natural populations. Our data provide a striking example of how protein-based epigenetic switches, hidden in plain sight, can establish a transgenerational memory that integrates adaptive prediction into developmental decisions.
Project description:Proteotoxic stress triggers adaptive cellular responses, including changes in gene expression on the levels of transcription and translation. In this study, we analyzed the translational response of yeast cells to impaired protein import into mitochondria, a condition under which mitochondrial precursor proteins accumulate in the cytosol and impose proteotoxic stress. We analyzed changes in translational efficiency as well as more subtle changes in the distribution of ribosomes along transcripts, with a special focus on translation initiation sites.
Project description:In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the kinase Rio1 regulates rDNA transcription and segregation, pre-rRNA cleavage, and 40S ribosomal subunit maturation. Other roles are unknown. Human orthologue RIOK1; which is frequently overexpressed in malignancies, drives tumor growth and metastasis. Again, also RIOK1 biology is poorly understood. In this study, we charted the global activity of Rio1 in budding yeast. By producing and systems-integrating its protein-interaction, gene-transcription, and chromatin-binding maps we generated Rio1's multi-layered activity network, which controls protein synthesis and turnover, metabolism, growth, proliferation, and genetic stability. Rio1 regulates itself at the transcriptional level, and manages its network both directly and indirectly, via a battery of regulators and transcription factors, including Gcn4. We experimentally confirmed the network and show that Rio1 commands its downstream circuit depending on the growth conditions encountered. We also find that Rio1 and RIOK1 activities are functionally equivalent. Our data suggest that pathological RIOK1 expression may deregulate its network and fuel promiscuous transcription and ribosome production, uncontrolled metabolism, growth, proliferation, and chromosomal instability; well-known contributors to cancer initiation, maintenance and metastasis.
Project description:The accumulation of unfolded proteins in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) causes stress and induces the unfolded protein response (UPR) which is characterised in part by the transcriptional induction of genes involved in assisting protein folding. Translational responses to ER stress have been less well described and here we report on a genome-wide analysis of translational regulation in the response to the ER stress-inducing agent dithiothreitol (DTT) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although the observed polysome profiles were similar under control and ER stress conditions microarray analysis identified transcipt-specific translational regulation. Genes with functions in ribosomal biogenesis and assembly were translationally repressed under ER stress. In contrast mRNAs for known UPR genes, including the UPR transcription factor HAC1, the ER-oxidoreductase ERO1 and the ER-associated protein degradation (ERAD) gene DER1 were enriched in polysomal fractions under ER stress conditions. In addition, we show that splicing of HAC1 mRNA is required for efficient ribosomal loading and that Gcn2p is required for normal HAC1 splicing, so shedding light on the role of this protein kinase in the UPR pathway. Keywords: stress response, translational analysis
Project description:Cellular differentiation is driven by coordinately regulated changes in gene expression. Translational control of gene expression is increasingly recognized as pervasive and quantitatively significant, but the mechanisms responsible for widespread changes in gene-specific translation activity are largely unknown. Here we investigate the mechanisms responsible for translational reprogramming during cellular adaptation to the absence of glucose, a stimulus that induces invasive filamentous differentiation in yeast. We show that gene-specific translation efficiencies are highly adapted to cellular conditions and that glucose withdrawal is accompanied by widespread translational reprogramming at the level of translation initiation. We demonstrate that transcripts from <5% of genes make up the majority of translating mRNA in both rapidly dividing and starved cells. Moreover, the identities of these highly translated genes are growth-state specific, and they are subject to condition-dependent translational privilege. By comparing glucose starvation to other growth-attenuating stresses, we distinguish a glucose-specific translational response that regulates ribosomal protein and mitochondrial protein-coding genes. This response is mediated through signaling by protein kinase A (PKA). These findings reveal a high degree of growth-state specialization of the translatome and identify PKA as an important regulator of gene-specific translation activity.