Cgr1p, a novel nucleolar protein encoded by Saccharomyces cerevisiae orf YGL0292w.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae open reading frame (ORF) YGL029w (CGR1) encodes a small hydrophilic protein of unknown function. To investigate the role of this gene, we have determined the intracellular localization of the encoded product and examined the effects of Cgr1p depletion on cell growth. Tagging Cgr1p with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) or the myc epitope showed focal accumulation of the fusion protein in the yeast nucleolus, and this localization overlapped with the distribution of the nucleolar protein Nop1p. Cells depleted of CGR1 mRNA were growth impaired and hypersensitive to the translational inhibitor paromomycin, and this phenotype was complemented by episomal expression of the CGR1-GFP fusion gene. These results identify Cgr1p as a novel component of the yeast nucleolus and suggest a potential role in ribosome biogenesis.