The yeast Gcn2 protein kinase mediates P-body formation both through its activity with eIF2α and with non-canonical substrates

Gcn2 is required for P-body formation in yeast, strongly during amino acid starvation (and partially during oxidative stress), and can drive P-bodies even without eIF2α phosphorylation.

• Why it matters: P-bodies are key RNA control hubs formed under stress, but how the yeast eIF2α kinase Gcn2 enables their assembly—especially beyond eIF2α phosphorylation—was unclear.
• What they did: The study tested P-body formation under amino acid starvation and oxidative stress, used constitutively active Gcn2, and analyzed a gcn3 mutant insensitive to eIF2α phosphorylation; it also screened putative Gcn2 substrates and assessed proteins required for Gcn2-mediated P-bodies.
• The result: Several candidate substrates were needed for Gcn2-driven P-bodies, including Smu2, which localizes to P-bodies and is required for stress-induced coalescence of mRNA granules into P-bodies.

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