open access

https://hdl.handle.net/2115/67953

Microtubule array observed in the posterior-vegetal cortex during cytoplasmic and cortical reorganization of the ascidian egg

英語

maternal factors

2017-10

John Wiley & Sons

Development, Growth & Differentiation / Development Growth & Differentiation

59(8)

648-656

Body axis formation during embryogenesis results from asymmetric localization of maternal factors in the egg. Shortly before the first cleavage in ascidian eggs, cell polarity along the anteroposterior (A-P) axis is established and the cytoplasmic domain (myoplasm) relocates from the vegetal to the posterior region in a microtubule-dependent manner. Through immunostaining, tubulin accumulation during this reorganization is observable on the myoplasm cortex. However, more detailed morphological features of microtubules remain relatively unknown. In this study, we invented a new reagent that improves the immunostaining of cortical microtubules and successfully visualized a parallel array of thick microtubules. During reorganization, they covered nearly the entire myoplasm cortical region, beneath the posterior-vegetal cortex. We designated this microtubule array as CAMP (cortical array of microtubules in posterior vegetal region). During the late phase of reorganization, CAMP shrank and the myoplasm formed a crescent-like cytoplasmic domain. When the CAMP formation was inhibited by sodium azide, myoplasmic reorganization and A-P axis formation were both abolished, suggesting that CAMP is important for these two processes.

学術雑誌論文

Version of Record

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

0012-1592