INTERCELLULAR MIGRATION OF CENTRIOLES IN THE GERMARIUM OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: An Electron Microscopic Study

TLDR: The fine structure of the germarium and the early oocyte is described and between 14 and 17 centrioles are found in the oocyte, by the time the 16 cell cluster of cells is surrounded by follicle cells (Stage 1).

Abstract: A cluster of centrioles has been found in the early Drosophila oocyte Since the oocyte is connected to 15 nurse cells by a system of intercellular bridges or ring canals, the possibility that the cluster of centrioles arose in the germarium from an intercellular migration of centrioles from the nurse cells to the oocyte was analyzed in serial sections for the electron microscope Initially, all of the 16 cells of the future egg chambers possess centrioles, which are located in a juxtanuclear position At the time the 16 cell cluster becomes arranged in a lens-shaped layer laterally across the germarium, the centrioles lose their juxtanuclear position and move towards the oocyte By the time the 16 cell cluster of cells is surrounded by follicle cells (Stage 1), between 14 and 17 centrioles are found in the oocyte Later, these centrioles become located between the oocyte nucleus and the follicle cell border and become aggregated into a cluster less than 15 µ in its largest dimension The fate of these centrioles in the oocyte is not known The fine structure of the germarium and the early oocyte is also described