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 3PUTRs of the bep1, bep3 and bep4 mRNAs are reported. The minimal lenghts of these regions required to bind the 54-kDa protein, previously shown to be involved in localization and anchoring of these RNAs, is estimated. Microinjection of the bep3 3PUTR into egg shows that this RNA fragment is also able to become localized to one of the egg poles, as happens for the entire bep3 RNA.