Asymmetric distribution of glucose transporter mRNA provides a growth advantage in yeast

摘要

Asymmetric localization of is important for cell fate decisions in eukaryotes and provides the means for localized protein synthesis in a variety of cell types. Here, we show that hexose transporter s are retained in the mother cell of until metaphase–anaphase transition ( ) and then are released into the bud. The retained was translationally less active but bound to ribosomes before . Importantly, when cells were shifted from starvation to glucose‐rich conditions, 2 , but none of the other s, was enriched in the bud after . This enrichment was dependent on the Ras/ / pathway, the ortholog Kar9, and nuclear segregation into the bud. Competition experiments between strains that only expressed one hexose transporter at a time revealed that only cells grow faster than their counterparts when released from starvation. Therefore, asymmetric distribution of 2 provides a growth advantage for daughters, who are better prepared for nutritional changes in the environment. Our data provide evidence that asymmetric localization is an important factor in determining cellular fitness.