title: The Drosophila fusome, a germline-specific organelle, contains membrane skeletal proteins and functions in cyst formation.
abstract: Oogenesis in Drosophila takes place within germline cysts that support polarized transport through ring canals interconnecting their 15 nurse cells and single oocyte. Developing cystocytes are spanned by a large cytoplasmic structure known as the fusome that has been postulated to help form ring canals and determine the pattern of nurse cell-oocyte interconnections. We identified the adducin-like hts product and alpha-spectrin as molecular components of fusomes, discovered a related structure in germline stem cells and documented regular associations between fusomes and cystocyte centrosomes. hts mutations completely eliminated fusomes, causing abnormal cysts containing a reduced number of cells to form. Our results imply that Drosophila fusomes are required for ovarian cyst formation and suggest that membrane skeletal proteins regulate cystocyte divisions.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Laboratories, Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Spradling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division / Q000502:physiology; D004330:Drosophila / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D015388:Organelles / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins