The Mechanism of Distribution of Tudor Transcript and Protein in Oogenesis and Embryogenesis

本研究的目的是表征都铎，一个黑腹果蝇的母性效应位点，在早期胚胎发生的两个中心事件，生殖细胞的决定和腹部分割的作用。该实验方法旨在确定在卵发生和胚胎发生期间都铎产物分布的时空模式的机制。这将涉及：1)比较野生型和母系效应突变胚胎生殖细胞形成和前/后轴建立过程中都铎mRNA和蛋白质的分布；2)确定tudor产物定位到胚胎后极的RNA和/或蛋白质序列；3)确定胚胎发生后期是否需要Tudor表达。实验目的将通过在转基因动物中引入和表达修饰的都铎基因构建体来实现。这些研究有望有助于对胚胎细胞命运决定的分子机制的普遍理解。

The objective of this research is to characterize the role of tudor, a Drosophila melanogaster maternal effect locus, in two central events of early embryogenesis, germ cell determination and abdomen segmentation. The experimental approach is designed to determine the mechanisms that specify the spatial and temporal patterns of tudor product distribution during oogenesis and embryogenesis. This will involve: 1) comparison of tudor mRNA and protein distribution during germ cell formation and anterior/ posterior axis establishment in wild type and maternal effect mutant embryos; 2) determination of the RNA and/or protein sequences responsible for localization of tudor products to the embryonic posterior pole; and 3) determination whether tudor expression is required in late embryogenesis. Experimental objectives will be carried out by introduction and expression of modified tudor gene constructs in transgenic animals. These studies are expected to contribute to general understanding of molecular mechanism(s) of embryonic cell fate determination.