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Changes in follicular cells architecture during vitellogenin transport in the ovary of social Hymenoptera

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Abstract

Vitellogenins are the major yolk proteins, synthesized in the fat body, released into the hemolymph and captured by the developing oocytes, but the mechanisms by which these proteins cross the follicular cell layer are still poorly understood. This study describes the actin distribution in follicular cells during vitellogenin transport to the oocyte in social Hymenoptera represented by bees Apis mellifera and Melipona quadrifasciata, the wasp Mischocyttarus cassununga and the ant Pachycondyla curvinodis. In oocytic chambers of vitellogenic follicles, vitellogenin was found within the follicular cells, perivitelline space and oocyte, indicating a transcellular route from the hemolymph to the perivitelline space. The cortical actin cytoskeleton in follicular cells underwent reorganization during transport of vitellogenin across this epithelium suggesting that in the ovary of social hymenopterans, vitellogenin delivery to oocytes requires a dynamic cytoskeletal rearrangement of actin filaments in the follicular cells.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Brazilian research Agencies, FAPEMIG, CNPq, and CAPES. Authors are grateful to Nucleus of Microscopy and Microanalysis at Federal University of Viçosa for technical assistance and to anonymous reviewers for criticism and manuscript improvement.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General Biology, Federal University of Viçosa, 36570-000, Viçosa, MG, Brazil

    Milton Ronnau, Dihego Oliveira Azevedo, Wagner Gonzaga Gonçlaves & José Eduardo Serrão

  2. Department of Biology, Federal University of Paraná, Palotina, PR, Brazil

    Milton Ronnau

  3. Federal Insitute of Espírito Santo, Ibatiba, ES, Brazil

    Dihego Oliveira Azevedo

  4. Department of Morphology, Federal University of Amazonas, Manaus, AM, Brazil

    Maria do Carmo Queiroz Fialho

  5. Department of Entomology, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, Brazil

    José Cola Zanuncio

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  1. Milton Ronnau
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  2. Dihego Oliveira Azevedo
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  3. Maria do Carmo Queiroz Fialho
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  4. Wagner Gonzaga Gonçlaves
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  5. José Cola Zanuncio
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  6. José Eduardo Serrão
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Correspondence to José Eduardo Serrão.

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Handling Editor: Douglas Chandler

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Ronnau, M., Azevedo, D.O., Fialho, M.d.C.Q. et al. Changes in follicular cells architecture during vitellogenin transport in the ovary of social Hymenoptera. Protoplasma 253, 815–820 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-015-0843-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-015-0843-0

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