In Drosophila, the anterior–posterior axis of the body plan is established during egg development by maternally expressed molecules.
Keywords: RNA localization; translational control; intercellular signalling; bicoid; nanos
Drosophila Embryo: Maternal Interactions in Specification of the Anterior–Posterior Axis
Paul Lasko, Department of Biology, McGill University, Canada
Published online: March 2003
DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001503
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Figure 1. Stage 10 egg chamber expressing a Vas–green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein. Vas accumulates in particles surrounding the nurse cell nuclei (ncn) and in the pole plasm (pp) at the posterior of the oocyte (oo). Photograph courtesy of S. Styhler, McGill University.
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Figure 2. Cuticle preparation of a bicaudal embryo, consisting of a mirror-image duplication of posterior pattern elements and lacking anterior pattern elements. This embryo was produced by a Bic-C mutant female, a mutation that results in premature unlocalized translation of osk.
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| Further Reading | |
| Bashirullah A, Cooperstock RL and Lipshitz HD (1998) RNA localization in development. Annual Review of Biochemistry 67: 335–394. | |
| de Cuevas M, Lilly MA and Spradling AC (1997) Germline cyst formation in Drosophila. Annual Review of Genetics 31: 405–428. | |
| Eddy EM (1975) Germ plasm and the differentiation of the germ cell line. International Review of Cytology 43: 229–281. | |
| Saffman EE and Lasko P (1999) Germline development in vertebrates and invertebrates. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 55: 1141–1163. | |
| van Eeden F and St Johnston D (1999) The polarisation of the anterior–posterior and dorsal–ventral axes during Drosophila oogenesis. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 9: 396–404. | |
