Protein product of a maternally expressed gene
Staufen
Staufen is a protein product of a maternally expressed gene first identified in Drosophila melanogaster.
The protein has been implicated in helping regulate genes important in determination of gradients that set up the anterior posterior axis such as bicoid and oskar. Staufen proteins, abbreviated Stau, are necessary for cell localization during the oogenesis and zygotic development. It is involved in targeting of the messenger RNA encoding these genes to the correct pole of the egg cell.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Cayambe (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.