About the Project
Early animal embryos are patterned by translational control mechanisms that regulate when and where maternal mRNAs are translated. For example, during the initial divisions of the fly, frog, fish and worm embryos, the precisely timed and localized translation of transcription factors and signaling molecules defines embryonic axes and distinguishes the early embryonic lineages. Therefore, elucidation of the mechanisms that control translation of maternal transcripts is fundamental to…
understanding how animal embryos develop.
In this project, we will image translation maternal transcripts in real-time and at the single-mRNA level during the initial divisions of the C. elegans embryo. We will combine quantitative imaging with CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and biochemical approaches to understand the translational control mechanisms that act on these mRNAs. Our analysis will focus on the mRNAs that encode components of conserved signaling pathways (for example, Notch/Delta and WNT) and transcription factors, each of which is translated in a specific pattern in the early embryo. This project dovetails nicely with our work to understand how key translational regulators become asymmetrically distributed in the early embryo (Wu 2018; Han 2018, Wu 2019, Kim 2025).
Trainees will gain technical expertise in 1) molecular genetics (CRISPR/Cas9, RNAi and transgenesis) and 2) quantitative fluorescence microscopy (super-resolution spinning disc imaging and TIRF). Trainees will become deeply knowledgeable about how translation is regulated and how early animal embryos are patterned.
- Wu (2018) PNAS 115(36):E8440-E8449.
- Han (2018) Current Biology 28:60-69.
- Wu (2019) MBoC 30(3):333-345.
- Kim (2024) bioRxiv Jul26:2024.07.26.605193.
