Ribosome Biogenesis: Streamlining the Genome for the Efficient Production of this Biological Nanomolecular Machine

Abstract

One of the most complex nanomolecular machines found within the cell is the ribosome. Integral to translation, the ribosome is conserved on a functional level across all domains of life. The eukaryotic ribosome is comprised of approximately 80 Ribosomal Proteins (RPs) and four rRNAs that are highly processed, folded, and assembled by more than 200 processing and assembly factors (termed rRNA and ribosome biogenesis factors). The cell requires roughly stoichiometric levels of each of these components to meet cellular demand for protein synthesis, to maintain fidelity of this process, and to ensure that faithful translation occurs. Ribosome biogenesis is an energetically consumptive process, and there are many mechanisms the cell employs in order to properly balance expression of the requisite components. The failure to properly regulate this process results in cellular dysfunction, in higher eukaryotes it can lead to disease such as various cancers. This commentary will discuss recent developments in the understanding of the role that spatial positioning – the linear arrangement of genes along the chromosome throughout the genome – plays in the regulation of ribosome biogenesis, focusing on lessons learned from the budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and their implications in higher eukaryotic organisms.