A universal feature of the response to stress and nutrient limitation is transcriptional upregulation of genes that encode proteins important for survival. Under many such conditions, the overall protein synthesis level is reduced, thereby dampening the stress response at the level of protein expression. For example, during glucose starvation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast), translation is rapidly repressed, yet the transcription of many stress- and glucose-repressed genes is increased. Here we show, using ribosomal profiling and microscopy, that this transcriptionally upregulated gene set consists of two classes: one class produces messenger RNAs that are translated during glucose starvation and are diffusely localized in the cytoplasm, including many heat-shock protein mRNAs; and the other class produces mRNAs that are not efficiently translated during glucose starvation and are concentrated in foci that co-localize with P bodies and stress granules, a class that is enriched for mRNAs involved in glucose metabolism. Surprisingly, the information specifying the differential localization and protein production of these two classes of mRNA is encoded in the promoter sequence: promoter responsiveness to heat-shock factor 1 (Hsf1) specifies diffuse cytoplasmic localization and higher protein production on glucose starvation. Thus, promoter sequences can influence not only the levels of mRNAs but also the subcellular localization of mRNAs and the efficiency with which they are translated, enabling cells to tailor protein production to the environmental conditions.

Ribosomes elongate at a nonuniform rate during translation. Theoretical models and experiments disagree on the in vivo determinants of elongation rate and the mechanism by which elongation rate affects protein levels. To resolve this conflict, we measured transcriptome-wide ribosome occupancy under multiple conditions and used it to formulate a whole-cell model of translation in E. coli. Our model predicts that elongation rates at most codons during nutrient-rich growth are not limited by the intracellular concentrations of aminoacyl-tRNAs. However, elongation pausing during starvation for single amino acids is highly sensitive to the kinetics of tRNA aminoacylation. We further show that translation abortion upon pausing accounts for the observed ribosome occupancy along mRNAs during starvation. Abortion reduces global protein synthesis, but it enhances the translation of a subset of mRNAs. These results suggest a regulatory role for aminoacylation and abortion during stress, and our study provides an experimentally constrained framework for modeling translation.

De novo biosynthesis of amino acids uses intermediates provided by the TCA cycle that must be replenished by anaplerotic reactions to maintain the respiratory competency of the cell. Genome-wide expression analyses in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveal that many of the genes involved in these reactions are repressed in the presence of the preferred nitrogen sources glutamine or glutamate. Expression of these genes in media containing urea or ammonia as a sole nitrogen source requires the heterodimeric bZip transcription factors Rtg1 and Rtg3 and correlates with a redistribution of the Rtg1p/Rtg3 complex from a predominantly cytoplasmic to a predominantly nuclear location. Nuclear import of the complex requires the cytoplasmic protein Rtg2, a previously identified upstream regulator of Rtg1 and Rtg3, whereas export requires the importin-beta-family member Msn5. Remarkably, nuclear accumulation of Rtg1/Rtg3, as well as expression of their target genes, is induced by addition of rapamycin, a specific inhibitor of the target of rapamycin (TOR) kinases. We demonstrate further that Rtg3 is a phosphoprotein and that its phosphorylation state changes after rapamycin treatment. Taken together, these results demonstrate that target of rapamycin signaling regulates specific anaplerotic reactions by coupling nitrogen quality to the activity and subcellular localization of distinct transcription factors.