Grant: Project Grant

The 'central dogma' of molecular biology is information flows from DNA to RNA and then from RNA to protein. While it was long thought that the proteins in a cell are largely determined by the synthesis of mRNA from DNA, and that all mRNAs are equally likely to be translated into protein, we now know that mRNA itself can be highly regulated in time. The processes that control mRNAs in the cytoplasm of a cell are referred to as 'post-transcriptional'. Post-transcriptional mechanisms are implemented by RNA-binding proteins that interact with specific mRNAs to regulate when they are translated into proteins, as well as whether these mRNAs are stable or are degraded. The Drosophila early embryo is an ideal system in which to study how RNA-binding proteins coordinate post-transcriptional processes in time (synchronize) because there is no transcription of DNA into mRNA; development is controlled exclusively by the mRNAs and proteins loaded into the egg by the mother. Here we use these embryos to study how the RNA-binding proteins themselves are regulated in time and how they, in turn, regulate mRNAs. We use a panel of genomic techniques that include proteomics and transcriptomics, together with sophisticated genetic strategies.