Open AccessElimination of nurse cell nuclei that shuttle into oocytes during oogenesis
Author(s) -
Zehra Ali-Murthy,
Richard D. Fetter,
Wanpeng Wang,
Bin Yang,
Loïc A. Royer,
Thomas B. Kornberg
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the journal of cell biology/the journal of cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.414
H-Index - 380
eISSN - 1540-8140
pISSN - 0021-9525
DOI - 10.1083/jcb.202012101
Subject(s) - oocyte , biology , oogenesis , nurse cell , microbiology and biotechnology , intracellular , anatomy , andrology , embryo , medicine
Drosophila oocytes develop together with 15 sister germline nurse cells (NCs), which pass products to the oocyte through intercellular bridges. The NCs are completely eliminated during stages 12–14, but we discovered that at stage 10B, two specific NCs fuse with the oocyte and extrude their nuclei through a channel that opens in the anterior face of the oocyte. These nuclei extinguish in the ooplasm, leaving 2 enucleated and 13 nucleated NCs. At stage 11, the cell boundaries of the oocyte are mostly restored. Oocytes in egg chambers that fail to eliminate NC nuclei at stage 10B develop with abnormal morphology. These findings show that stage 10B NCs are distinguished by position and identity, and that NC elimination proceeds in two stages: first at stage 10B and later at stages 12–14.