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mRNA diffusion explains protein gradients in Drosophila early development

Rui Dilao¹ and Daniele Murro¹

Correspondence: (Login to view email address)

1. Nonlinear Dynamics Group, Instituto Superior T´ecnico, Department of Physics, Lisbon, Portugal

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Manuscript

Date:

Received 06 July 2009 14:12 UTC; Posted 06 July 2009

Subjects:

Developmental Biology, Bioinformatics

Tags:

• mRNA diffusion
• Drosophila
• reaction-diffusion

Abstract:

We propose a new model describing the production and the establishment of the stable gradient of the Bicoid protein along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo of Drosophila. In this model, we consider that bicoid mRNA diffuses along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo and the protein is produced in the ribosomes localized near the syncytial nuclei. Bicoid protein stays localized near the syncytial nuclei as observed in experiments.We calibrate the parameters of the mathematical model with experimental data taken during the cleavage stages 11 to 14 of the developing embryo of Drosophila. We obtain good agreement between the experimental and the model gradients, with relative errors in the range 5-8%. The inferred diffusion coefficient of bicoid mRNA is in the range 4.6×10^-12 – 1.5×10^-11 m²s^-1, in agreement with the theoretical predictions and experimental measurements for the diffusion of macromolecules in the cytoplasm. We show that the model based on the mRNA diffusion hypothesis is consistent with the known observational data, supporting the recent experimental findings of the gradient of bicoid mRNA in Drosophila [Spirov et al. (2009) Development 136:605-614].

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This document is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

How to cite this document:

Dilao, Rui and Murro, Daniele. mRNA diffusion explains protein gradients in Drosophila early development. Available from Nature Precedings <http://hdl.handle.net/10101/npre.2009.3402.1> (2009)

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