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

这项研究的目的是描述果蝇的母性效应基因Tudor在早期胚胎发育的两个中心事件中的作用，即生殖细胞决定和腹部分割。该实验方法旨在确定指定都铎产物在卵子发生和胚胎发生期间的时空分布模式的机制。这将涉及：1)比较野生型和母性效应突变胚胎生殖细胞形成和前后轴建立过程中Tudor mRNA和蛋白质的分布；2)确定负责Tudor产物定位到胚胎后极的RNA和/或蛋白质序列；3)确定Tudor在胚胎发育后期是否需要表达。实验目标将通过在转基因动物中引入和表达修改的Tudor基因结构来实现。这些研究有望有助于全面理解决定胚胎细胞命运的分子机制(S)。

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.