scholarly journals A mechanism for the elimination of the female gamete centrosome inDrosophila melanogaster

Science ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 353 (6294) ◽  
pp. aaf4866 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Pimenta-Marques ◽  
I. Bento ◽  
C. A. M. Lopes ◽  
P. Duarte ◽  
S. C. Jana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Span ◽  
Sexual Reproduction ◽  
Early Development ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Female Sterility ◽  
Polo Kinase ◽  
Maintenance Program ◽  
Female Germ Line ◽  
Different Tissues ◽  
Stable Structures

An important feature of fertilization is the asymmetric inheritance of centrioles. In most species it is the sperm that contributes the initial centriole, which builds the first centrosome that is essential for early development. However, given that centrioles are thought to be exceptionally stable structures, the mechanism behind centriole disappearance in the female germ line remains elusive and paradoxical. We elucidated a program for centriole maintenance in fruit flies, led by Polo kinase and the pericentriolar matrix (PCM): The PCM is down-regulated in the female germ line during oogenesis, which results in centriole loss. Perturbing this program prevents centriole loss, leading to abnormal meiotic and mitotic divisions, and thus to female sterility. This mechanism challenges the view that centrioles are intrinsically stable structures and reveals general functions for Polo kinase and the PCM in centriole maintenance. We propose that regulation of this maintenance program is essential for successful sexual reproduction and defines centriole life span in different tissues in homeostasis and disease, thereby shaping the cytoskeleton.

scholarly journals GENETIC ANALYSIS OF THREE DOMINANT FEMALE-STERILE MUTATIONS LOCATED ON THE X CHROMOSOME OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Genetics ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-325
Author(s):  
D Busson ◽  
M Gans ◽  
K Komitopoulou ◽  
M Masson
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Female Sterility ◽  
Recessive Mutation ◽  
Wild Type Allele ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Allelic Series ◽  
Type Allele ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Female Germ Line

ABSTRACT Three dominant female-sterile mutations were isolated following ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis. Females heterozygous for two of these mutations show atrophy of the ovaries and produce no eggs (ovoD  1) or few eggs (ovoD  2); females heterozygous for the third mutation, ovoD  3, lay flaccid eggs. All three mutations are germ line-dependent and map to the cytological region 4D-E on the X chromosome; they represent a single allelic series. Two doses of the wild-type allele restore fertility to females carrying ovoD  3 and ovoD  2, but females carrying ovoD  1 and three doses of the wild-type allele remain sterile. The three mutations are stable in males but are capable of reversion in females; reversion of the dominant mutations is accompanied by the appearance, in the same region, of a recessive mutation causing female sterility. We discuss the utility of these mutations as markers of clones induced in the female germ line by mitotic recombination as well as the nature of the mutations.

scholarly journals Isolation and characterization of dominant female sterile mutations of Drosophila melanogaster. II. Mutations on the second chromosome.

Genetics ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 823-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Szabad ◽  
M Erdélyi ◽  
G Hoffmann ◽  
J Szidonya ◽  
T R Wright
Keyword(s):  
Germ Line ◽  
Follicle Cell ◽  
Female Sterility ◽  
Unusual Behavior ◽  
Isolation And Characterization ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Female Germ Line ◽  
Mutant Phenotypes ◽  
Two Stages

Abstract Twenty-four, second chromosome, dominant female sterile (Fs) mutations in Drosophila are described. Fs(2) were isolated at a frequency of approximately 1 per 1000 EMS-treated chromosomes screened. In comparison the isolation of frequency for second chromosome zygotic recessive lethal mutations was approximately 550 per 1000. Complementation analysis of the Fs(2) revertants showed that the 24 Fs(2) mutations identify 13-15 loci, calculated to be about 65-75% of the second chromosome genes EMS mutable to dominant female sterility. Two of the Fs(2) mutations are useful tools for the dominant female sterile technique: Fs(2)1 for induction and detection of germ-line clones and Fs(2)Ugra for follicle cell clones. Several of the Fs(2) mutations bring about novel mutant phenotypes. Seven of them alter egg shape, whereas the others arrest development primarily at two stages: around fertilization by five Fs(2) and during cleavage divisions [by Fs(2) in three loci]. The remaining that allow development to the larval stage of differentiation include four new dorsal alleles and one dominant torso allele. Analysis of germ-line chimeras revealed that with two exceptions all the Fs(2) mutations are germ-line dependent. The Fs(2) mutations were mapped mainly on the basis of mitotic recombination induced in the female germ-line cells of adult females. That most of the Fs(2) may be gain-of-function mutations is indicated by the unusual behavior of the Fs+ germ-line clones and also by the fact that 90% of the could be induced to revert.

scholarly journals Non-mendelian female sterility and hybrid dysgenesis in Drosophila melanogaster

1978 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Picard ◽  
J. C. Bregliano ◽  
A. Bucheton ◽  
J. M. Lavige ◽  
A. Pelisson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Reciprocal Cross ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Spontaneous Mutation ◽  
Hybrid Dysgenesis ◽  
Female Sterility ◽  
Wild Populations ◽  
Female Germ Line ◽  
Mutation Research

SUMMARYSystematic crosses between various strains of Drosophila melanogaster lead in some cases to partly sterile F1 females (SF females). Two main classes of strain, inducer and reactive, have been denned on the basis of this sterility, which shows very specific physiological features. SF females arise only when reactive females are crossed with inducer males. In contrast, F1 females (RSF) produced by the reciprocal cross between inducer females and reactive males have normal fertility. All wild populations tested are of the inducer category, laboratory strains are either inducer or reactive. Sterility is the result of interaction between two genetic factors denoted I and R, respectively responsible for the inducer and reactive conditions and whose unusual genetic behaviour has been described in other papers. The present paper reports experiments showing that the I–R interaction is also responsible for high levels of X nondisjunction and of mutation in the SF female germ-line. The analogy with the P-M system of Kidwell, Kidwell & Sved (1977b), is discussed as are also the implications of the existence of the I-R system for spontaneous mutation research in D. melanogaster.

scholarly journals Mutual Correction of Faulty PCNA Subunits in Temperature-Sensitive Lethal mus209 Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (4) ◽  
pp. 1721-1733
Author(s):  
Daryl S Henderson ◽  
Ulrich K Wiegand ◽  
David G Norman ◽  
David M Glover
Keyword(s):  
Germ Line ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Nuclear Antigen ◽  
Dimensional Structure ◽  
Female Sterility ◽  
Temperature Sensitive ◽  
Position Effect Variegation ◽  
Dna Double Strand Breaks ◽  
Mutant Genotype

Abstract Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) functions in DNA replication as a processivity factor for polymerases δ and ε, and in multiple DNA repair processes. We describe two temperature-sensitive lethal alleles (mus209B1 and mus2092735) of the Drosophila PCNA gene that, at temperatures permissive for growth, result in hypersensitivity to DNA-damaging agents, suppression of position-effect variegation, and female sterility in which ovaries are underdeveloped and do not produce eggs. We show by mosaic analysis that the sterility of mus209B1 is partly due to a failure of germ-line cells to proliferate. Strikingly, mus209B1 and mus2092735 interact to restore partial fertility to heteroallelic females, revealing additional roles for PCNA in ovarian development, meiotic recombination, and embryogenesis. We further show that, although mus209B1 and mus2092735 homozygotes are each defective in repair of transposase-induced DNA double-strand breaks in somatic cells, this defect is substantially reversed in the heteroallelic mutant genotype. These novel mutations map to adjacent sites on the three-dimensional structure of PCNA, which was unexpected in the context of this observed interallelic complementation. These mutations, as well as four others we describe, reveal new relationships between the structure and function of PCNA.

pitkinD, a Novel Gain-of-Function Enhancer of Position-Effect Variegation, Affects Chromatin Regulation During Oogenesis and Early Embryogenesis in Drosophila

Genetics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 1227-1244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffi Kuhfittig ◽  
János Szabad ◽  
Gunnar Schotta ◽  
Jan Hoffmann ◽  
Endre Máthé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Germ Line ◽  
Position Effect ◽  
Early Embryogenesis ◽  
Position Effect Variegation ◽  
Chromatin Regulation ◽  
Gain Of Function ◽  
Position Effects ◽  
Dominant Female ◽  
Effect Variegation ◽  
Female Germ Line

Abstract The vast majority of the >100 modifier genes of position-effect variegation (PEV) in Drosophila have been identified genetically as haplo-insufficient loci. Here, we describe pitkinDominant (ptnD), a gain-of-function enhancer mutation of PEV. Its exceptionally strong enhancer effect is evident as elevated spreading of heterochromatin-induced gene silencing along euchromatic regions in variegating rearrangements. The ptnD mutation causes ectopic binding of the SU(VAR)3-9 heterochromatin protein at many euchromatic sites and, unlike other modifiers of PEV, it also affects stable position effects. Specifically, it induces silencing of white+ transgenes inserted at a wide variety of euchromatic sites. ptnD is associated with dominant female sterility. +/+ embryos produced by ptnD/+ females mated with wild-type males die at the end of embryogenesis, whereas the ptnD/+ sibling embryos arrest development at cleavage cycle 1-3, due to a combined effect of maternally provided mutant product and an early zygotic lethal effect of ptnD. This is the earliest zygotic effect of a mutation so far reported in Drosophila. Germ-line mosaics show that ptn+ function is required for normal development in the female germ line. These results, together with effects on PEV and white+ transgenes, are consistent with the hypothesis that the ptn gene plays an important role in chromatin regulation during development of the female germ line and in early embryogenesis.

Dedicated protection for the female germ line

2006 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-8
Author(s):  
Magdalena Skipper
Keyword(s):  
Germ Line ◽  
Female Germ Line

Multiple products from the shavenbaby-ovo gene region of Drosophila melanogaster: relationship to genetic complexity

1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 6809-6818
Author(s):  
M D Garfinkel ◽  
J Wang ◽  
Y Liang ◽  
A P Mahowald
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Gene Region ◽  
Multiple Products ◽  
Zinc Finger Motifs ◽  
Genetic Complexity ◽  
Complex Locus ◽  
Female Germ Line ◽  
Sensory Structures ◽  
Pole Cells

The Drosophila melanogaster shavenbaby (svb)-ovo gene region is a complex locus, containing two distinct but comutable genetic functions. ovo is required for survival and differentiation of female germ line cells and plays a role in germ line sex determination. In contrast, svb is required in both male and female embryos for the production of epidermal locomotor and sensory structures. Sequences required for the two genetic functions are partially overlapping. ovo corresponds to a previously described germ line-dependent 5.0-kb poly(A)+ mRNA that first appears in the germarium and accumulates in nurse cells during oogenesis. The 5.0-kb mRNA is stored in the egg, but it is rapidly lost in the embryos except for its continued presence in the germ line precursor pole cells. The ovo mRNA predicts a 1,028-amino-acid 110.6-kDa protein homologous with transcription factors. We have identified an embryonic mRNA, 7.1 kb in length, that contains exons partially overlapping those of the 5.0-kb poly(A)+ mRNA. The spatial distribution of this newly discovered transcript during midembryogenesis suggests that it corresponds to the svb function. The arrangement of exons common to the 5.0- and 7.1-kb mRNAs suggests that the Ovo and Svb proteins share DNA-binding specificity conferred by four Cys2-His2 zinc finger motifs but differ functionally in their capacity to interact with other components of the transcription machinery.

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