Control of protein production reflects both regulation of mRNA levels and the efficiency with which these messages are translated into proteins. Measuring translation rates and mRNA levels allowed us to evaluate their relative contributions. Much transcriptional regulation was observed, but translational control also regulated the magnitude and timing of protein production in meiotic cells. An example of this interplay is provided by the adjacent
SPS1 and
SPS2 genes (). mRNA for both genes accumulated late in prophase and persisted through the meiotic divisions, consistent with their transcriptional control by
NDT80 (
19). By contrast,
SPS1, but not
SPS2, was strongly translationally regulated, delaying Sps1 protein synthesis until MII ().
To quantitatively evaluate the role of translational control, we calculated relative translation efficiencies [TEs; ribosome footprint RPKM/mRNA RPKM; where RPKM is reads per kilobase of coding sequence per million mapped reads, as in (
6)] for messages across our time course. Replicates indicated high TE reproducibility (error <20%), which allowed sensitive measurement of dynamic translational control [
fig. S5, E and F; (
6)]. This approach confirmed, both in timing and degree, the strong MI-specific translational repression that regulates the B-type cyclin,
CLB3 [(
4), ]. At least 10 genes showed a pattern of translational regulation highly similar to that of
CLB3—including
SPS1 (),
GIP1, and
SPO20—which, like
CLB3, have known roles only late in meiosis (
20–
22).
Genome-wide analysis revealed that meiotic translational regulation is both pervasive and nuanced (). As seen for vegetative cells (
6), meiotic cells showed strong basal differences in translation rates among genes (). Globally, we observed a net decrease in translation, relative to vegetative cells in their exponential growth phase, that was most pronounced at the very earliest and latest time points (
fig. S10). Further, gene-specific regulation was widely used to dynamically tune gene expression. For example, 24% of genes during the “core meiotic” period showed greater than threefold TE changes, a period during which net translation capacity appears stable (
fig. S10). More than 200 genes in the full time course and 66 in the core meiotic period exhibited a dynamic range in TE that was comparable to the ~10-fold changes seen for
GCN4, an archetype of strong translational regulation (
23).
Changes in TE frequently correlated with timing of gene function (). The DNA replication factor
ORC1 (
24), for example, showed strong translational repression at later meiotic stages when cells do not replicate DNA. Zip1, an SC component (
25), specifically showed poor translation in vegetative cells and spores, consistent with the lack of SC in either state. Chitin deposition factor Rcr1 (
26) is translated efficiently only at late time points, concomitant with new cell wall generation. Finally,
HAC1, the central UPR mediator (
12,
13), showed transient translational activation shortly upon transfer of cells to nutrient-limited conditions, followed by a later, stronger translational activation during the meiotic divisions, as cells are synthesizing new membrane and spore walls ().
HAC1 is regulated translationally through cytoplasmic splicing of its message (
27). Consistently,
HAC1 mRNA splicing mirrored TE measurements, both in timing and degree (). The UPR has been heavily studied in yeast using harsh inhibitors of ER folding (e.g., dithiothreitol). This study reveals a novel physiological setting to follow UPR induction.