Akihiko Kokuryo
Japan
Editorial
Binucleation of Drosophila Adult Male Accessory Gland Cells Increases Plasticity of Organ Size for Effective Reproduction
Author(s): Kiichiro Taniguchi, Akihiko Kokuryo, Takao Imano, Ryunosuke Minami, Hideki Nakagoshi and Takashi Adachi-YamadaKiichiro Taniguchi, Akihiko Kokuryo, Takao Imano, Ryunosuke Minami, Hideki Nakagoshi and Takashi Adachi-Yamada
Although most animal cells possess only a single nucleus, some cells such as myocytes and hepatocytes show sporadic occurrences of multiple nuclei. The Drosophila adult male accessory gland, an internal reproductive organ for production of seminal fluid components, displays an exceptional columnar epithelium where all cells have two nuclei. Despite this striking feature, no adaptive significances to account for binucleation have been proposed.
We demonstrate that one possible purpose of binucleation is enabling plasticity in organ size. To compare various cytological traits between binucleate and mononucleate states, we artificially converted the cellular state from the binucleate state to either the endoreplicated mononucleate or pseudodivided mononucleate state in the accessory gland epithelium by genetically manipulating the spindle assembly checkpoint. Depending on the fli.. View More»
