REQUIREMENT FOR A NONCODING RNA IN DROSOPHILA POLAR GRANULES FOR GERM-CELL ESTABLISHMENT

In Drosophila embryos, germ cell formation is induced by specialized c ytoplasm at the posterior of the egg, the pole plasm. Pole plasm conta ins polar granules, organelles in which maternally produced molecules required for germ cell formation are assembled. An untranslatable RNA, called Polar granule component (Pgc), was identified and found to be localized in polar granules. Most pole cells in embryos produced by tr ansgenic females expressing antisense Pge RNA failed to complete migra tion and to populate the embryonic gonads, and females that developed from these embryos often had agametic ovaries. These results support a n essential role for Pge RNA in germline development.