Activation of a meiotic checkpoint regulates translation of Gurken during Drosophila oogenesis.
The genes okra and spindle-B act during meiosis in Drosophila to repair double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) associated with meiotic recombination. Unexpectedly, mutations in these genes cause dorsoventral patterning defects during oogenesis. These defects result from a failure to accumulate Gurken protein, which is required to initiate dorsoventral patterning during oogenesis. Here we find that the block in Gurken accumulation in the oocyte cytoplasm reflects activation of a meiotic checkpoint in response to the persistence of DSBs in the nucleus. We also show that Vasa is a target of this meiotic checkpoint, and so may mediate the checkpoint-dependent translational regulation of Gurken.
Ghabrial
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HHMI, Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA.
Schüpbach
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T
D000818:Animals; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004330:Drosophila / Q000502:physiology; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis; D020365:RNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; D015291:Transforming Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D004527:Egg Proteins; D019476:Insect Proteins; D016211:Transforming Growth Factor alpha; C083730:grk protein, Drosophila; C114493:spn-B protein, Drosophila; D015291:Transforming Growth Factors; C088269:vas protein, Drosophila; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases; D020365:RNA Helicases