Intricate regulation of ribosome biogenesis genes in response to mTORC1 signaling

Genes encoding ribosomal proteins are repressed in response to inhibition of mTORC1. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, this involves dissociation of the activator Ifh1p in a process that depends on Utp22p, a protein that also functions in pre-rRNA processing. Ifh1p has a paralog, Crf1p, which can mediate mTORC1 inhibition by acting as a repressor. Ifh1p and Crf1p derive from a common ancestor, which may have acted as both an activator and a repressor. We report here that UTP22 and RRP7, which encodes another pre-rRNA processing factor, are controlled by mTORC1; both gene promoters are bound by Ifh1p, which dissociates on mTORC1 inhibition. Notably, Crf1p acts as an activator as evidenced by reduced expression in a crf1{Delta} strain. By contrast, Crf1p is required to repress expression of HMO1, which encodes a cofactor involved in communicating mTORC1 activity to target genes. Our data therefore indicate that Crf1p exhibits the dual repressor/activator functions of the Ifh1p-Crf1p ancestor.