RNA localization along the anteroposterior axis of the Drosophila oocyte requires PKA-mediated signal transduction to direct normal microtubule organization

Abstract

Microtubule polarity has been implicated as the basis for polarized localization of morphogenetic determinants that specify the anteroposterior axis in Drosophila oocytes. We describe mutations affecting Protein Kinase A (PKA) that act in the germ line to disrupt both microtubule distribution and RNA localization along this axis. In normal oocytes, the site of microtubule nucleation shifts from posterior to anterior immediately prior to polarized localization of bicoid and oskar RNAs. In PKA-deficient oocytes, posterior microtubules are present during this transition, oskar RNA fails to accumulate at the posterior, and bicoid RNA accumulates at both ends of the oocyte. Similar RNA mislocalization patterns previously reported for Notch and Delta mutants suggest that PKA transduces a signal for microtubule reorganization that is sent by posteriorly located follicle cells.