JAK-STAT-dependent contact between follicle cells and the oocyte controls Drosophila anterior-posterior polarity and germline development.

ABSTRACT: The number of embryonic primordial germ cells in Drosophila is determined by the quantity of germ plasm, whose assembly starts in the posterior region of the oocyte during oogenesis. Here, we report that extending JAK-STAT activity in the posterior somatic follicular epithelium leads to an excess of primordial germ cells in the future embryo. We show that JAK-STAT signaling is necessary for the differentiation of approximately 20 specialized follicle cells maintaining tight contact with the oocyte. These cells define, in the underlying posterior oocyte cortex, the anchoring of the germ cell determinant oskar mRNA. We reveal that the apical surface of these posterior anchoring cells extends long filopodia penetrating the oocyte. We identify two JAK-STAT targets in these cells that are each

SUBMITTER: Mallart C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10883949 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature