Searching across hundreds of databases

Our searching services are busy right now. Your search will reload in five seconds.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

X
Forgot Password

If you have forgotten your password you can enter your email here and get a temporary password sent to your email.

Bucky ball functions in Balbiani body assembly and animal-vegetal polarity in the oocyte and follicle cell layer in zebrafish.

Developmental biology | 2008

The Balbiani body is an evolutionarily conserved asymmetric aggregate of organelles that is present in early oocytes of all animals examined, including humans. Although first identified more than 150 years ago, genes acting in the assembly of the Balbiani body have not been identified in a vertebrate. Here we show that the bucky ball gene in the zebrafish is required to assemble this universal aggregate of organelles. In the absence of bucky ball the Balbiani body fails to form, and vegetal mRNAs are not localized in oocytes. In contrast, animal pole localized oocyte markers are expanded into vegetal regions in bucky ball mutants, but patterning within the expanded animal pole remains intact. Interestingly, in bucky ball mutants an excessive number of cells within the somatic follicle cell layer surrounding the oocyte develop as micropylar cells, an animal pole specific cell fate. The single micropyle permits sperm to fertilize the egg in zebrafish. In bucky ball mutants, excess micropyles cause polyspermy. Thus bucky ball provides the first genetic access to Balbiani body formation in a vertebrate. We demonstrate that bucky ball functions during early oogenesis to regulate polarity of the oocyte, future egg and embryo. Finally, the expansion of animal identity in oocytes and somatic follicle cells suggests that somatic cell fate and oocyte polarity are interdependent.

Pubmed ID: 18582455 RIS Download

Research resources used in this publication

None found

Additional research tools detected in this publication

Antibodies used in this publication

None found

Associated grants

  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: HD050901
  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HD050901
  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HD050901-03
  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HD050901-04
  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HD050901-02
  • Agency: NICHD NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HD050901-01

Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.

This is a list of tools and resources that we have found mentioned in this publication.


Adobe Illustrator (tool)

RRID:SCR_010279

Vector graphics software to create digital graphics, illustrations, and typography for several types of media: print, web, interactive, video, and mobile.

View all literature mentions