van Eeden, F. J., Palacios, I. M., Petronczki, M. et al. (2 more authors) (2001) Barentsz is essential for the posterior localization of oskar mRNA and colocalizes with it to the posterior pole. Journal of Cell Biology, 154 (3). pp. 511-523. ISSN 0021-9525
Abstract
The localization of Oskar at the posterior pole of the Drosophila oocyte induces the assembly of the pole plasm and therefore defines where the abdomen and germ cells form in the embryo. This localization is achieved by the targeting of oskar mRNA to the posterior and the localized activation of its translation. oskar mRNA seems likely to be actively transported along microtubules, since its localization requires both an intact microtubule cytoskeleton and the plus end-directed motor kinesin I, but nothing is known about how the RNA is coupled to the motor. Here, we describe barentsz, a novel gene required for the localization of oskar mRNA. In contrast to all other mutations that disrupt this process, barentsz-null mutants completely block the posterior localization of oskar mRNA without affecting bicoid and gurken mRNA localization, the organization of the microtubules, or subsequent steps in pole plasm assembly. Surprisingly, most mutant embryos still form an abdomen, indicating that oskar mRNA localization is partially redundant with the translational control. Barentsz protein colocalizes to the posterior with oskar mRNA, and this localization is oskar mRNA dependent. Thus, Barentsz is essential for the posterior localization of oskar mRNA and behaves as a specific component of the oskar RNA transport complex.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2001 Rockefeller University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Share-alike Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. |
Keywords: | Animals; Cell Polarity; Cloning, Molecular; Drosophila; Drosophila Proteins; Female; Insect Proteins; Male; Microtubules; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Oocytes; Oogenesis; Phenotype; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; RNA, Messenger; RNA-Binding Proteins; Recombination, Genetic; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Biomedical Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 21 Dec 2016 12:22 |
Last Modified: | 28 Mar 2018 22:09 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1083/jcb.200105056 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Rockefeller University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1083/jcb.200105056 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:108323 |