Identification of changing ribosome protein compositions using cryo-EM and mass spectrometry

The regulatory role of the ribosome in gene expression has come into sharper focus. It has been proposed that ribosomes are dynamic complexes capable of changing their protein composition in response to enviromental stimuli. We applied both cryo-EM and mass spectrometry to identify such changes in S. cerevisiae 80S ribosomes. Cryo-EM shows a fraction (17%) of the ribosome population in yeast growing in glucose lack the ribosomal proteins RPL10 (ul16) and RPS1A/B (eS1). Unexpectedly, this fraction rapidly increases to 34% after the yeast are switched to growth in glycerol. Using quantitative mass spectrometry, we found that the paralog yeast ribosomal proteins RPL8A (eL8A) and RPL8B (eL8B) change their relative proportions in the 80S ribosome when yeast are switched from growth in glucose to glycerol. Using yeast genetics and polysome profiling, we show that yeast ribosomes containing either RPL8A or RPL8B are not functionally interchangeable. Our combined cryo-EM and quantitative proteomic data support the hypothesis that ribosomes are dynamic complexes that alter their composition and functional activity in response to changes in growth or environmental conditions.