Yeast Sporulation and [SMAUG+] Prion: Faster Is Not Always Better

Chakravarty et al. (2019) and Itakura et al. (2019) report that the yeast RNA-binding protein Vts1 can convert into the [SMAUG+] prion state and delay meiosis commitment in response to starvation. It enables budding yeast to optimize their sporulation efficiency depending on how quickly nutrient availability fluctuates in their environment.