Seeing Is Believing The Bicoid Morphogen Gradient Matures
نویسندگان
چکیده
Although Cell has a long history of publishing some of the most significant advances in developmental biology, the back to back papers by Driever and Nüsslein-Volhard on the role of the Bicoid gradient in patterning the Drosophila embryo stand out as the first molecular demonstration of two of the longest standing concepts of the field, namely localized cytoplasmic determinants and morphogen gradients. Here we discuss the impact of this ground-breaking work and review recent results on bicoid mRNA localization and the dual role of Bicoid as a transcription and translation factor.
منابع مشابه
Stability and Nuclear Dynamics of the Bicoid Morphogen Gradient
Patterning in multicellular organisms results from spatial gradients in morphogen concentration, but the dynamics of these gradients remain largely unexplored. We characterize, through in vivo optical imaging, the development and stability of the Bicoid morphogen gradient in Drosophila embryos that express a Bicoid-eGFP fusion protein. The gradient is established rapidly (approximately 1 hr aft...
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Morphogen gradients are established by the localized production and subsequent diffusion of signaling molecules. It is generally assumed that cell fates are induced only after morphogen profiles have reached their steady state. Yet, patterning processes during early development occur rapidly, and tissue patterning may precede the convergence of the gradient to its steady state. Here we consider...
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Morphogen gradients are typically analyzed from static images of fixed embryonic tissues. Two papers in this issue of Cell now report live imaging of the Bicoid gradient in developing fruit fly embryos (Gregor et al., 2007a, 2007b). Their findings indicate that the gradient is highly reproducible from embryo to embryo and reveal that the nuclear dynamics of Bicoid are critical for maintaining p...
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Cell
دوره 116 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2004