Reductive stress leads to the loss of disulfide bond formation and induces the unfolded protein response of the endoplasmic reticulum (UPRER), necessary to regain proteostasis in the compartment. Here we show that peroxide accumulation during reductive stress attenuates UPRER amplitude by altering translation without any discernible effect on transcription. Through a comprehensive genetic screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we identify modulators of reductive stress-induced UPRER and demonstrate that oxidative quality control (OQC) genes modulate this cellular response in the presence of chronic but not acute reductive stress. Using a combination of microarray and relative quantitative proteomics, we uncover a non-canonical translation attenuation mechanism that acts in a bipartite manner to selectively downregulate highly expressed proteins, decoupling the cell’s transcriptional and translational response during reductive ER stress. Finally, we demonstrate that PERK, a canonical translation attenuator in higher eukaryotes, helps in bypassing a ROS-dependent, non-canonical mode of translation attenuation.
