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Genetic screening for novel mRNA localization factors in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Trailer hitch (tral) is a component of a ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex that localizes to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in the egg chamber nurse cells of the Drosophila melanogaster oocyte (Wilhelm et al., 2005). Mutating tral results in disruption of ER exit site distribution, which leads to defects in the trafficking of Gurken (Grk) a factor required for dorsal-ventral patterning, and Yolkless (Yl), the vitellogenin receptor. Both Grk and Yl accumulate in the oocyte and during late development Grk localizes to the dorsal-anterior region while Yl goes to the plasma membrane. However, when there is a tral loss of function, both proteins remain in the ER, which implies that tral is involved in secretion through the formation and organization of ER exit sites (Wilhelm et al., 2005). Identifying the mRNA targets of tral and genes that genetically interact with tral will help further our understanding of the role of tral in the secretory pathway. Therefore, a broad genetic screen was conducted to determine and locate genes that interact with tral

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