title: Ecdysone signalling and ovarian development in insects: from stem cells to ovarian follicle formation.
abstract: Although a great deal of information is available concerning the role of ecdysone in insect oogenesis, research has tended to focus on vitellogenesis and choriogenesis. As such, the study of oogenesis in a strict sense has received much less attention. This situation changed recently when a number of observations carried out in the meroistic polytrophic ovarioles of Drosophila melanogaster started to unravel the key roles played by ecdysone in different steps of oogenesis. Thus, in larval stages, a non-autonomous role of ecdysone, first in repression and later in activation, of stem cell niche and primordial germ cell differentiation has been reported. In the adult, ecdysone stimulates the proliferation of germline stem cells, plays a role in stem cell niche maintenance and is needed non-cell-autonomously for correct differentiation of germline stem cells. Moreover, in somatic cells ecdysone is required for 16-cell cyst formation and for ovarian follicle development. In the transition from stages 8 to 9 of oogenesis, ecdysone signalling is fundamental when deciding whether or not to go ahead with vitellogenesis depending on the nutritional status, as well as to start border cell migration. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Nuclear receptors in animal development.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: xavier.belles@ibe.upf-csic.es.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Belles
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Maria-Dolors
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Piulachs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D003058:Cockroaches / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D004440:Ecdysone / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000254:growth & development*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D014818:Vitellogenesis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004440:Ecdysone
keywords: 20-Hydroxyecdysone; Cystoblasts; Cystocytes; Egg chamber; Germline cells; Stem cell niche