Bruno contributes to osk mRNA localization during Drosophila oogenesis

Oskar is a body pattern and germ cell determining protein in Drosophila melanogaster. This protein must be properly expressed to ensure correct formation of the posterior pole of the animal. Bruno is a RNA binding protein known to regulate osk mRNA translation during Drosophila oogenesis. In vitro work has implicated Bru in oligomerizing osk mRNA into silencing particles and thereby preventing osk mRNA from accessing translational machinery and inhibiting translation. In attempts to further investigate Bru mediated translational regulation, reporter transcripts with Bruno binding regions from the osk mRNA were analyzed for translation and localization of the transcript. Localization of these reporter transcripts has shown the first in vivo evidence for the Bru mediated silencing particle assembly model. In this thesis, I report on the distribution of reporter transcripts in the Drosophila egg chamber.