<p> Ring canals are made from arrested cleavage furrows, and provide direct cytoplasmic connections among sibling cells. They are well documented for their participation in Drosophila oogenesis, but little is known about their role in several somatic tissues in which they are also found. Using a variety of genetic tools in live and fixed tissue, I demonstrate that the ∼250 nm diameter somatic ring canals permit rapid intercellular exchange through somatic ring canals by diffusion. Additionally, intercellular diffusion of protein was observed between cells with highly disparate levels of mRNA transcript, suggesting a possible role for ring canals in smoothing gene expression within a tissue. I also used a novel combination of markers to evaluate the extent of protein movement within mitotic clones and across clone boundaries in ovarian follicle cells and imaginal discs, providing evidence of robust movement of GFP between the two sides of mitotic clones and frequently into non-recombined cells. These data suggest that, depending on the experimental setup and proteins of interest, inter-clonal diffusion of protein may alter the interpretation of clonal data in follicle cells. Our work illustrates the lack of cytoplasmic autonomy in these tissues and suggests a role for somatic ring canals in promoting homogeneous protein expression within the tissue.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3580769 |
| Date | 02 July 2014 |
| Creators | McLean, Peter Foster |
| Publisher | Yale University |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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