tRNA production links nutrient conditions to the onset of sexual differentiation through the TORC1 pathway |
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| Authors: | Yoko Otsubo Tomohiko Matsuo Akiko Nishimura Masayuki Yamamoto Akira Yamashita |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Laboratory of Cell Responses, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan;2. Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan;3. Department of Basic Biology, School of Life Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Okazaki, Aichi, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase controls cell growth and metabolism in response to nutrient availability. In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, TOR complex 1 (TORC1) promotes vegetative growth and inhibits sexual differentiation in the presence of ample nutrients. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of mutants with similar phenotypes as TORC1 mutants, in that they initiate sexual differentiation even in nutrient‐rich conditions. In most mutants identified, TORC1 activity is downregulated and the mutated genes are involved in tRNA expression or modification. Expression of tRNA precursors decreases when cells undergo sexual differentiation. Furthermore, overexpression of tRNA precursors prevents TORC1 downregulation upon nitrogen starvation and represses the initiation of sexual differentiation. Based on these observations, we propose that tRNA precursors operate in the S. pombe TORC1 pathway to switch growth mode from vegetative to reproductive. |
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| Keywords: | fission yeast sexual differentiation TORC1 tRNA precursor |
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