Journal
BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 99, Issue 4, Pages L33-L35Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2010.05.031
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- France-Canada Research Foundation
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (Canada)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Universite Paris Diderot
- Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicate
- Canada Research Chair
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The Bicoid (Bcd) morphogen is essential for pattern formation in fruit flies. It forms an exponential concentration gradient along the embryo AP axis and turns on cascades of target genes in distinct anterior domains. The most commonly accepted model for gradient formation assumes that Bcd travels by simple diffusion and is uniformly degraded across syncytial embryos, yet several recent studies have challenged these ideas. Here, the question of Bcd mobility was investigated using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in live Drosophila melanogaster embryos. Bcd-EGFP molecules were found to be highly mobile in the cytoplasm during cycles 12-14, with a diffusion coefficient similar to 7 mu m(2)/s. This value is large enough to explain the stable establishment of the Bcd gradient simply by diffusion before cycle 8, i.e., before the onset of zygotic transcription.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available