bicoid mRNA localises to the Drosophila oocyte anterior by random Dynein-mediated transport and anchoring
- University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
- University of Cambridge, Germany
- Princeton University, United States
Abstract
Mechanisms for mRNA localization are not well understood in vivo and studies of oskar and bicoid mRNAs have been very important in this regard. This paper builds on prior work by demonstrating that bicoid RNA is transported along microtubules by dynein. Surprisingly, this is not sufficient to account for its anterior localisation at early stages because transport is non-directional, indicating that the RNA must also be anchored specifically at the anterior. bicoid mRNA assembles into mRNP particles of characteristic size at all stages of oogenesis that may be important for its transport and anchoring. This provides a new mechanism for bicoid mRNA localization, suggests a particular role for mRNP particles, and further contributes important in vivo observations on which further hypotheses and studies can be built.
Article and author information
Author details
Daniel St Johnston
Funding
European Commission (Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), Marie Curie Intraeuropean felowship, 236621)
- Vítor Trovisco
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC/EURORNAQ , BB/F010303)
- Daniel St Johnston
Darwin Trust Scholarship
- Katsiaryna Belaya
Wellcome (Strategic Award, 095297)
- George Sirinakis
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2016, Trovisco et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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bicoid mRNA localises to the Drosophila oocyte anterior by random Dynein-mediated transport and anchoring
eLife 5:e17537.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.17537
