FOLDING AND BINDING-ACTIVITY OF THE 3'UTRS OF PARACENTROTUS-LIVIDUS BEP MESSENGERS

Bep mRNAs are localized at the animal pole of P. lividus eggs, In the present communication the secondary structures of the 3'UTRs of the be p1, bep3 and bep4 mRNAs are reported, The minimal lenghts of these reg ions required to bind the 54-kDa protein, previously shown to be invol ved in localization and anchoring of these RNAs, is estimated, Microin jection of the bep3 3'UTR into egg shows that this RNA fragment is als o able to become localized to one of the egg poles, as happens for the entire bep3 RNA. (C) 1998 Federation of European Biochemical Societie s.