Question

when nutrients are scarce, cells will often reduce the number of ribosomes present in the cell. what effect would this have on gene expression? translation would occur less often, resulting in less protein. proteins would become less stable, resulting in fewer ribosomes. mrna would become less stable, resulting in less translation. transcription would occur less often, resulting in less mrna.

Explanation:

Ribosomes are the sites of translation (protein synthesis). If there are fewer ribosomes, there are fewer sites for translation to occur. mRNA stability is not directly related to ribosome number in this context. Transcription occurs in the nucleus (in eukaryotes) and is not directly affected by ribosome number in the cytoplasm. Proteins becoming less stable is not a direct consequence of reduced ribosome number in terms of gene expression (translation).

Answer:

Translation would occur less often, resulting in less protein.