A late phase of germ plasm accumulation during Drosophila oogenesis requires lost and rumpelstiltskin.

ABSTRACT: Asymmetric mRNA localization is an effective mechanism for establishing cellular and developmental polarity. Posterior localization of oskar in the Drosophila oocyte targets the synthesis of Oskar to the posterior, where Oskar initiates the assembly of the germ plasm. In addition to harboring germline determinants, the germ plasm is required for localization and translation of the abdominal determinant nanos. Consequently, failure of oskar localization during oogenesis results in embryos lacking germ cells and abdominal segments. oskar accumulates at the oocyte posterior during mid-oogenesis through a well-studied process involving kinesin-mediated transport. Through live imaging of oskar mRNA, we have uncovered a second, mechanistically distinct phase of oskar localization that occurs dur

SUBMITTER: Sinsimer KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3143563 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature