Staufen protein associates with the 3′UTR of bicoid mRNA to form particles that move in a microtubule-dependent manner

Abstract

Staufen protein is required in order to anchor bicoid (bcd) mRNA at the anterior pole of the Drosophila egg. Here we show that staufen protein colocalizes with bcd mRNA at the anterior, and that this localization depends upon its association with the mRNA. Upon injection into the embryo, bcd transcripts specifically interact with staufen, and we have mapped the sequences required to three regions of the 3′UTR, each of which is predicted to form a long stem-loop. The resulting staufen-bcd 3′UTR complexes form particles that show a microtubule-dependent localization. Since staufen is also transported with oskar (osk) mRNA during oogenesis, staufen associates specifically with both osk and bcd mRNAs to mediate their localizations, but at two distinct stages of development.