Cytoplasmic deadenylase Ccr4 is required for translational repression of LRG1 mRNA in the stationary phase

Ccr4 is a major cytoplasmic deadenylase involved in mRNA poly(A) tail shortening in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have previously shown that Ccr4 negatively regulates expression of LRG1 mRNA encoding a GTPase-activating protein for the small GTPase Rho1, a component of cell wall integrity pathway, and deletion of LRG1 suppresses the temperature-sensitive growth defect of the ccr4Δ mutant. We have also shown that the slow growth of the ccr4Δ mutant is suppressed by deletion of another gene, PBP1, encoding a poly(A)-binding protein (Pab1)-binding protein 1; however, the underlying mechanism still remains unknown. In this study, we investigated how ccr4Δ and pbp1Δ mutations influence on the length of poly(A) tail and LRG1 mRNA and protein levels during long-term cultivation. In the log-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, LRG1 poly(A) tail was longer and LRG1 mRNA level was higher than those in the log-phase wild-type (WT) cells. Unexpectedly, Lrg1 protein level in the ccr4Δ mutant cells was comparable with that in WT. In the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, LRG1 poly(A) tail length was still longer and LRG1 mRNA level was still higher than those in WT cells. In contrast to the log phase, Lrg1 protein level in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells was maintained much higher than that in the stationary-phase WT cells. Consistently, active translating ribosomes still remained abundant in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells, whereas they were strongly decreased in the stationary-phase WT cells. Loss of PBP1 reduced the LRG1 poly(A) tail length as well as LRG1 mRNA and protein levels in the stationary-phase ccr4Δ mutant cells. Our results suggest that Ccr4 regulates not only LRG1 mRNA level through poly(A) shortening but also the translation of LRG1 mRNA, and that Pbp1 is involved in the Ccr4-mediated regulation of mRNA stability and translation.