Fission Yeast Puf2, a Pumilio and FBF Family RNA-Binding Protein, Links Stress Granules to Processing Bodies

Stress granules (SGs) are cytoplasmic aggregates formed upon stress when untranslated messenger ribonucleoproteins accumulate in the cells. In a green fluorescent protein library screening of the fission yeast SG proteins, Puf2 of the PUF family of RNA-binding proteins was identified that is required for SG formation after deprivation of glucose. Accordingly, the puf2 mutant is defective in recovery from glucose starvation with a much longer lag to reenter the cell cycle. In keeping with these results, Puf2 contains several low-complexity and intrinsically disordered protein regions with a tendency to form aggregates and, when overexpressed, it represses translation to induce aggregation of poly(A) binding protein Pabp, the signature constituent of SGs. Intriguingly, overexpression of Puf2 also enhances the structure of processing bodies (PBs), another type of cytoplasmic RNA granule, a complex of factors involved in mRNA degradation. In this study, we demonstrate a function of the fission yeast PB in SG formation and show Puf2 may provide a link between these two structures.