title: Microtubules are responsible for the asymmetrical distribution of organelles in the oocytes of the hymenopteran, Chrysis ignita.
abstract: Previous morphological investigations have shown that the distribution of cellular organelles and reserve materials in hymenopteran oocytes is uneven and often gradient-like. It has been suggested that the microtubular cytoskeleton is responsible for creating and/or maintaining the distribution gradients. To test this hypothesis, adult females of the hymenopteran, Chrysis ignita were treated with a microtubule-assemble inhibitor, colchicine. The experiment resulted in a number of abnormalities observed in the egg chambers: the oocytes were devoid of organelle-free periplasm and oosome; cellular organelles and reserve materials were distributed randomly within the oocyte; nurse cells organization was significantly changed. These observations have confirmed a key role of microtubules in forming and/or maintaining the asymmetry of ooplasm in Chrysis ignita.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systematic Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Adamska
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Biliński
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003078:Colchicine / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006927:Hymenoptera / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008870:Microtubules / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D017830:Octoxynol; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015388:Organelles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016610:Tissue Embedding; D016707:Tissue Fixation
chemical_list: D017830:Octoxynol; D003078:Colchicine