Mitochondrial ribosome content as a proxy for respiration
Abstract
Quantifying cellular activities remains a major challenge across fields ranging from microbial ecology to biotechnology and biomedical sciences. Building on the well-established linear relationship between growth rate and ribosome content-the so-called microbial growth law-this study proposes using organelle ribosome content to infer metabolic activity. In exponentially growing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), including under overflow metabolism conditions, a strong linear correlation was observed between mitochondrial ribosome content and oxygen uptake rate, underscoring the potential of this approach. Additionally, under fully respiratory conditions, cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ribosome fractions were linearly correlated, whereas overflow conditions fell below this linear relationship, providing a means to identify such metabolic states. Although these findings require broader validation across additional species, organelle ribosome quantification may provide a promising proxy for deciphering cellular metabolism.
Related
- Integrated toxicogenomic and single-nucleus transcriptomic analyses prioritize SDHB and NDUFAB1 in mitochondrial respiration-associated remodeling during cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury
- Cancer cells differentially modulate mitochondrial respiration to alter redox state and enable biomass synthesis in nutrient-limited environments
- Mitochondrial content and intrinsic coupling‐related differences shape bioenergetic output and redox responses across striated muscles in rats
- Mitochondria poor but capacity rich? The paradox of podocyte respiration
- A conformation transition of lung surfactant lipids probably involved in respiration
BibTeX
@article{mairet2026mitochondrial,
title = {{Mitochondrial ribosome content as a proxy for respiration}},
author = {Francis Mairet},
journal = {Biology Letters},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2026.0144},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05854082v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mitochondrial ribosome content as a proxy for respiration
AU - Francis Mairet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - Biology Letters
DO - 10.1098/rsbl.2026.0144
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05854082v1
AB - Quantifying cellular activities remains a major challenge across fields ranging from microbial ecology to biotechnology and biomedical sciences. Building on the well-established linear relationship between growth rate and ribosome content-the so-called microbial growth law-this study proposes using organelle ribosome content to infer metabolic activity. In exponentially growing yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), including under overflow metabolism conditions, a strong linear correlation was observed between mitochondrial ribosome content and oxygen uptake rate, underscoring the potential of this approach. Additionally, under fully respiratory conditions, cytoplasmic and mitochondrial ribosome fractions were linearly correlated, whereas overflow conditions fell below this linear relationship, providing a means to identify such metabolic states. Although these findings require broader validation across additional species, organelle ribosome quantification may provide a promising proxy for deciphering cellular metabolism.
SN - 1744-9561
ER -