The virulent Wolbachia strain wMelPop increases the frequency of apoptosis in the female germline cells of Drosophila melanogaster.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Wolbachia are bacterial endosymbionts of many arthropod species in which they manipulate reproductive functions. The distribution of these bacteria in the Drosophila ovarian cells at different stages of oogenesis has been amply described. The pathways along which Wolbachia influences Drosophila oogenesis have been, so far, little studied. It is known that Wolbachia are abundant in the somatic stem cell niche of the Drosophila germarium. A checkpoint, where programmed cell death, or apoptosis, can occur, is located in region 2a/2b of the germarium, which comprises niche cells. Here we address the question whether or not the presence of Wolbachia in germarium cells can affect the frequency of cyst apoptosis in the checkpoint.

Results

Our current fluorescent microsco

SUBMITTER: Zhukova MV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3287512 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature