Stage- and stress-specific phosphorylation of ribosomal protein Rps5 (uS7) by Smk1 and Kns1 kinases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, nutrient deprivation triggers cell-type-specific responses: haploid cells exit the mitotic cycle and enter stationary phase, while diploid cells undergo meiosis and form spores. The meiosis-specific mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) Smk1 regulates spore formation. The ubiquitously expressed Cdc2-like kinase (CLK) Kns1 downregulates ribosomal RNA and tRNA synthesis in mitotically dividing cells under nutrient-deprived conditions. Here, we show that Smk1 phosphorylates ribosomal protein Rps5 (uS7) on threonine residues 21 and 27 during the early stages of spore formation. As spore formation progresses, Kns1 is required to further increase the phosphorylation of these residues. Kns1-dependent phosphorylation of Rps5 is also observed in nutrient-deprived or rapamycin-treated haploid cells. Upon exposure to nutrient-rich media and spore germination, ribosomal subunits containing unphosphorylated Rps5 are incorporated into translationally active polysomes, while phosphorylated Rps5 is retained in inactive 80S ribosomes. Taken together, our data support a model in which Smk1 and Kns1 cooperate across the yeast life cycle to promote Rps5 phosphorylation and thereby bias a subset of ribosomes toward translational quiescence.