The role of regulated mRNA stability in establishing bicoid morphogen gradient in Drosophila embryonic development.

ABSTRACT: The Bicoid morphogen is amongst the earliest triggers of differential spatial pattern of gene expression and subsequent cell fate determination in the embryonic development of Drosophila. This maternally deposited morphogen is thought to diffuse in the embryo, establishing a concentration gradient which is sensed by downstream genes. In most model based analyses of this process, the translation of the bicoid mRNA is thought to take place at a fixed rate from the anterior pole of the embryo and a supply of the resulting protein at a constant rate is assumed. Is this process of morphogen generation a passive one as assumed in the modelling literature so far, or would available data support an alternate hypothesis that the stability of the mRNA is regulated by active processes? We introduce a

SUBMITTER: Liu W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3174985 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature