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Comment
. 2009 Dec;5(12):e1000770.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1000770. Epub 2009 Dec 11.

Retrotransposon silencing by piRNAs: ping-pong players mark their sub-cellular boundaries

Affiliations
Comment

Retrotransposon silencing by piRNAs: ping-pong players mark their sub-cellular boundaries

Shinichiro Chuma et al. PLoS Genet. 2009 Dec.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Germinal granules/nuage in mouse germ cells.
Electron microscopy of a fetal prospermatogonium (A) and postnatal spermatid (B). In (A), inter-mitochondrial cement structures are seen as fine electron-dense material among mitochondria (arrowheads). Inter-mitochondrial cement is also seen in postnatal spermatogonia, spermatocytes and in growing oocytes. In (B), a chromatoid body (arrowhead), a specialized form of germinal granules/nuage, is seen in the cytoplasm independently of mitochondria. Chromatoid bodies are much larger in size than inter-mitochondrial cement and are observed mostly as one or two solitary aggregates in haploid spermatids. Both inter-mitochondrial cement and chromatoid bodies contain piwi-pathway components. Nuc, nucleus; Cyt, cytoplasm; Mit, mitochondria.

Comment on

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