TRANSLATIONAL REPRESSION AS A CONSERVED MECHANISM FOR THE REGULATION OF EMBRYONIC POLARITY

The mechanisms used to establish embryonic polarity are still largely unknown. A recent paper((1)) describes the expression pattern of the g ene glp-1, which is required for induction events during development o f the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Although glg-1 RNA is found thr oughout the early embryo, Glp-1 protein is only expressed in anterior cells. This negative translational regulation in posterior cells is sh own to be mediated through sequences in the glp-1 3'untranslated regio n (3'UTR). Thus in nematodes, as in Drosophila, translational repressi on is one mechanism used to establish the embryonic anterior-posterior axis.