Premature Translation of oskar in Oocytes Lacking the RNA-Binding Protein Bicaudal-C |
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| Authors: | Emma E Saffman Sylvia Styhler Katherine Rother Weihua Li Stphane Richard and Paul Lasko |
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| Affiliation: | Emma E. Saffman, Sylvia Styhler, Katherine Rother, Weihua Li, Stéphane Richard, and Paul Lasko |
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| Abstract: | Bicaudal-C (Bic-C) is required during Drosophila melanogaster oogenesis for several processes, including anterior-posterior patterning. The gene encodes a protein with five copies of the KH domain, a motif found in a number of RNA-binding proteins. Using antibodies raised against the BIC-C protein, we show that multiple isoforms of the protein exist in ovaries and that the protein, like the RNA, accumulates in the developing oocyte early in oogenesis. BIC-C protein expressed in mammalian cells can bind RNA in vitro, and a point mutation in one of the KH domains that causes a strong Bic-C phenotype weakens this binding. In addition, oskar translation commences prior to posterior localization of oskar RNA in Bic-C− oocytes, indicating that Bic-C may regulate oskar translation during oogenesis. |
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