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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jan 21.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2011 Apr 30;21(4):407–413. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2011.04.005

Figure 1. Challenges in RNA recognition for mRNA localization.

Figure 1

Mechanisms for mRNA localization are shown schematically. A, local transcription in multinucleate cells. A portion of a syncytial blastoderm embryo with four of its nuclei is shown. Transcripts (grey) made only in the central two nuclei will be concentrated around those nuclei. B, diffusion and trapping, and degradation/local stabilization. Although the mechanisms are different, both rely on a localized component: a stabilization protein or an anchoring protein, shown as a thick black line. In either case, an enormous number of possible localization patterns are possible. C, directed transport. A cytoskeletal element (microtubules as wavy lines) serves as the tracks along which motors carry cargo mRNAs. A single mechanism could localize many different mRNAs, but the number of possible destinations would be very limited unless different cargo adaptors recognize different populations of microtubules. The work discussed in this review shows how one class of localization element is recognized for directed transport.