A ribosomal assembly stress response governed by the methionine cycle extends lifespan in C. elegans mutant with defective de novo proline biogenesis

We compared the ratio of polysome-associated mRNAs (>3 ribosomes/mRNA) normalized to total mRNA levels between WT and pycr-1(wrm22) mutants. While mRNA translation as measured by polysome profiling was not affected in pycr-1 mutants, we detected significant changes in the translation of mRNAs involved in ribogenesis. Ribosomal stress can activate HSF-1 and indeed a transcriptome analysis of pycr-1 mutants revealed a significant change in HSF-1 target gene expression. Overall design: Polysome and total RNA sequencing was performed to compare pycr-1(wrm22) to wildtype worms.