The Saccharomyces cerevisiae CRY1 and CRY2 genes, which encode ribosomal protein rp59, are expressed at a 10:1 ratio in wild-type cells. Deletion or inactivation of CRY1 leads to 5- to 10-fold-increased levels of CRY2 mRNA. Ribosomal protein 59, expressed from either CRY1 or CRY2, represses expression of CRY2 but not CRY1. cis-Acting elements involved in repression of CRY2 were identified by assaying the expression of CRY2-lacZ gene fusions and promoter fusions in CRY1 CRY2 and cry1-delta CRY2 strains. Sequences necessary and sufficient for regulation lie within the transcribed region of CRY2, including the 5' exon and the first 62 nucleotides of the intron. Analysis of CRY2 point mutations corroborates these results and indicates that both the secondary structure and sequence of the regulatory region of CRY2 pre-mRNA are necessary for repression. The regulatory sequence of CRY2 is phylogenetically conserved; a very similar sequence is present in the 5' end of the RP59 gene of the yeast Kluyveromyces lactis. Wild-type cells contain very low levels of both CRY2 pre-mRNA and CRY2 mRNA. Increased levels of CRY2 pre-mRNA are present in mtr mutants, defective in mRNA transport, and in upf1 mutants, defective in degradation of cytoplasmic RNA, suggesting that in wild-type repressed cells, unspliced CRY2 pre-mRNA is degraded in the cytoplasm. Taken together, these results suggest that feedback regulation of CRY2 occurs posttranscriptionally. A model for coupling ribosome assembly and regulation of ribosomal protein gene expression is proposed.