Sch9 Is a Major Target of TORC1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The Target Of Rapamycin (TOR) protein is a Ser/Thr kinase that functions in two distinct multiprotein complexes: TORC1 and TORC2. These conserved complexes regulate many different aspects of cell growth in response to intra- and extracellular cues. Here we report the first bona fide substrate of yeast TORC1: the AGC-kinase Sch9. Six amino acids in the c-terminus of Sch9 are directly phosphorylated by TORC1. Phosphorylation of these residues is lost upon rapamycin-treatment as well as carbon- or nitrogen-starvation and transiently reduced following application of osmotic, oxidative or thermal stress. TORC1-dependent phosphorylation is required for Sch9 activity and replacement of residues phosphorylated by TORC1 with Asp/Glu renders Sch9 activity TORC1-independent. Sch9 is required for TORC1 to properly regulate ribosome biogenesis, translation initiation and entry into G0 phase, but not expression of Gln3-dependent genes. Our results suggest that Sch9 functions analogously to the mammalian TORC1 substrate S6K1 rather than the mTORC2 substrate PKB/Akt. Keywords: time course, cell type. Global transcriptional analysis of rapamycin response was conducted on cells expressing either a wild-type, Sch9(WT), or TOR-independent allele of Sch9, Sch9(2D3E). Reference samples used were cells collected immediately prior to rapamycin treatment for the respective cell genotypes. Test samples were collected 20, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180min post rapamycin treatment.