Blocked endocytotic uptake by the oocyte causes accumulation of vitellogenins in the haemolymph of the female-sterile mutants quitPX61 and stand stillPS34 of Drosophila

Abstract

The developmental lesions in two female-sterile mutants, quitPX61 (qui) and stand stillPS34 (stil), of Drosophila have been analysed. Previtellogenic development is normal in mutant qui ovarioles but, during vitellogenic stages, only small quantities of yolk accumulate in the oocyte. The nurse-cell cytoplasm does not stream into the oocyte. However, the follicle cells continue their developmental program and synthesize an excessive quantity of eggshell material. In the mutant stil, the oocyte remains small and contains only a fraction of the yolk proteins present in wild-type follicles. Histological and ultrastructural observations and the failure to incorporate trypan blue indicate that the yolk proteins present in the mutant follicles are neither derived from the fat body nor from the follicle cells. Since, in both mutants, the uptake mechanism of vitellogenin is affected, the 3 polypeptides accumulate in the haemolymph (in stil, the protein concentration is up to 4 times higher than in wild-type females) and the haemolymph volume increases. Reciprocal transplantations of ovarioles show that the developmental lesions in both mutants are ovary-autonomous. Furthermore, genetic chimeras of stil show that the activity of the stil gene is required in the germline cells and not in the somatic tissues.