Protein components of ribonucleoprotein granules from Drosophila germ cells oligomerize and show distinct spatial organization during germline development.

ABSTRACT: The assembly of large RNA-protein granules occurs in germ cells of many animals and these germ granules have provided a paradigm to study structure-functional aspects of similar structures in different cells. Germ granules in Drosophila oocyte's posterior pole (polar granules) are composed of RNA, in the form of homotypic clusters, and proteins required for germline development. In the granules, Piwi protein Aubergine binds to a scaffold protein Tudor, which contains 11 Tudor domains. Using a super-resolution microscopy, we show that surprisingly, Aubergine and Tudor form distinct clusters within the same polar granules in early Drosophila embryos. These clusters partially overlap and, after germ cells form, they transition into spherical granules with the structural organization unexpecte

SUBMITTER: Vo HDL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6915754 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature