The mRNA for caudal and hunchback are distributed evenly throughout the Drosophila embryo, yet the Caudal protein is found only in the posterior portion of the embryo and the Hunchback protein is present in greater amounts anteriorly. This distribution is due to:
A)transcriptional regulation of the hunchback and caudal genes in the zygote.
B)translational regulation of the hunchback and caudal mRNAs in the zygote.
C)transcriptional regulation of the nanos and bicoid genes in the zygote.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the mRNA for caudal and hunchback are distributed evenly throughout the embryo suggests that there is no transcriptional regulation of these genes. However, the differential distribution of their respective proteins suggests that there is regulation at the translational level. It is likely that there are factors that affect the translation of the mRNAs, leading to the differential distribution of the proteins.

The MRNA for Caudal and Hunchback Are Distributed Evenly Throughout