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Intron RNA sequences help yeast cells to survive starvation

Intron sequences are removed from newly synthesized RNA and usually rapidly degraded. However, it now seems that introns have a surprising role — helping yeast cells survive when nutrients are scarce.
  1. Samantha R. Edwards

    1. Samantha R. Edwards is in the Molecular Biology Institute and Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

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  2. Tracy L. Johnson

    1. Tracy L. Johnson is in the Molecular Biology Institute and Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

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RNA molecules that are newly transcribed from DNA contain intron and exon sequences. Introns are excised through a process called RNA splicing, during which the remaining exon sequences are joined together (ligated) to form mature messenger RNA, which is then translated into proteins. RNA splicing releases a lariat-shaped intron that is rapidly converted (debranched) to a linear form and degraded. Much of what we know about the molecular machinery — the spliceosome and its associated factors — and the mechanisms of splicing has come from genetic and biochemical experiments using baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Laboratory studies have suggested that most yeast introns can be removed with little consequence for the cell1. Writing in Nature, Parenteau et al.2 and Morgan et al.3 challenge this view by showing that introns help yeast cells in culture to sense a lack of essential nutrients in their growth medium and to adjust the rate of cell growth to adapt to this change in the environment.

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Nature 565, 578-579 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00088-y

References

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