Probably plays a role in germ plasm formation, positioning and maintenance. Interacts with poc1b. Unlike the transcript, the protein is not exclusively localized to germ plasm but is also present in the nuclei of early oocytes, of later stage primordial germ cells (PGCs) and of some somatic cells, as well as in their cytoplasm (PubMed:16216237). An mRNA and protein component of germ plasm and primordial germ cells (PGCs) throughout oogenesis and early development, being first localized to the granulo-fibrillar material (GFM) of the mitochondrial cloud in stage I and II oocytes and to the periphery of mature germinal granules both in oocytes and in embryos. Shows some somatic expression including the ectodermal cells of tailbud embryos. In adults, only expressed in ovaries. Expressed both maternally and zygotically from at least the pre-vitellogenic stage I of oogenesis through to the tadpole stages.