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Drosophila patterning is established by differential association of mRNAs with P bodies

Nature Cell Biology volume 14, pages 1305–1313 (2012)Cite this article

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Abstract

The primary embryonic axes in flies, frogs and fish are formed through translational regulation of localized transcripts before fertilization1. In Drosophila melanogaster, the axes are established through the transport and translational regulation of gurken (grk) and bicoid (bcd) messenger RNA in the oocyte and embryo1. Both transcripts are translationally silent while being localized within the oocyte along microtubules by cytoplasmic dynein1,2,3,4. Once localized, grk is translated at the dorsoanterior of the oocyte to send a TGF- α signal to the overlying somatic cells5. In contrast, bcd is translationally repressed in the oocyte until its activation in early embryos when it forms an anteroposterior morphogenetic gradient6. How this differential translational regulation is achieved is not fully understood. Here, we address this question using ultrastructural analysis, super-resolution microscopy and live-cell imaging. We show that grk and bcd ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes associate with electron-dense bodies that lack ribosomes and contain translational repressors. These properties are characteristic of processing bodies (P bodies), which are considered to be regions of cytoplasm where decisions are made on the translation and degradation of mRNA. Endogenous grk mRNA forms dynamic RNP particles that become docked and translated at the periphery of P bodies, where we show that the translational activator Oo18 RNA-binding protein (Orb, a homologue of CEPB) and the anchoring factor Squid (Sqd) are also enriched. In contrast, an excess of grk mRNA becomes localized inside the P bodies, where endogenous bcd mRNA is localized and translationally repressed. Interestingly, bcd mRNA dissociates from P bodies in embryos following egg activation, when it is known to become translationally active. We propose a general principle of translational regulation during axis specification involving remodelling of transport RNPs and dynamic partitioning of different transcripts between the translationally active edge of P bodies and their silent core.

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Figure 1: Differential association of bcd and grk with P bodies.
Figure 2: Dynamics of grk, bcd and Me31B particles in live oocytes.
Figure 3: Oocyte P bodies exhibit zones differentially enriched in RNA-associated proteins.
Figure 4: RNA translation fate is regulated through association with P bodies (marked with a dashed black line).
Figure 5: RNA association with P bodies in the early embryo.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to: E. R. Gavis (Princeton University, USA), D. Ish-Horowicz (CRUK, UK), T. Schüpbach (Princeton University, USA), A. Jaramillo (Princeton University, USA), J. van Minnen (University of Calgary, Canada), L. Cooley (Yale University, USA), R. Singer (Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA) and A. Nakamura (RIKEN, Japan) for fly stocks, antibodies and reagents; all members of the Cell Microscopy Center in Utrecht, Netherlands for assistance with electron microscopy; J. W. Sedat (UCSF, USA) and D. Agard (UCSF, USA) for advise on super-resolution imaging; E. R. Gavis for experimental advice; A. Ephrussi (EMBL, Germany) for discussions of the data. This work was supported by: Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (ROXA0) to T.T.W.; Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (081858) to I.D. and supporting R.M.P. and T.T.W.; Cancer Research UK funding to R.H.; studentship from Wellcome Trust to J.M.H.; Darwin Trust to J.S.

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Author notes

  1. Bram Herpers & Jan Soetaert

    Present address: Present addresses: Division of Toxicology Leiden University Einsteinweg 55, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands (B.H.); Centre for Neuroregeneraton, Chancellors Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK (J.S.),

  2. Timothy T. Weil and Richard M. Parton: Joint first authors

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, The University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK

    Timothy T. Weil, Richard M. Parton, Jan Soetaert, Ian M. Dobbie, James M. Halstead & Ilan Davis

  2. Department of Cell Biology, UMC Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 CX Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bram Herpers, Despina Xanthakis & Catherine Rabouille

  3. Hubrecht Institute for Stem Cell Research and Developmental Biology, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Tineke Veenendaal, Despina Xanthakis & Catherine Rabouille

  4. London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LY, UK

    Rippei Hayashi

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Contributions

T.T.W., R.M.P., C.R. and I.D. provided the intellectual basis of the work and designed the experiments. T.T.W., R.M.P., B.H., D.X. and T.V. performed experiments resulting in figures. J.S., R.H. and J.M.H. preformed experiments that contributed intellectually but did not result in figures. R.H. generated reagents. I.M.D. and R.M.P. provided technical expertise for equipment, advanced microscopy and data analysis. T.T.W., R.M.P., C.R. and I.D. wrote and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Catherine Rabouille or Ilan Davis.

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Weil, T., Parton, R., Herpers, B. et al. Drosophila patterning is established by differential association of mRNAs with P bodies. Nat Cell Biol 14, 1305–1313 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2627

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