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Updated: Mar 6, 2026

The Utility of Stage-specific Mid-to-late Drosophila Follicle Isolation
Published on: December 2, 2013
Uncoupling of growth and cytological development in egg follicles ofHeteropeza pygmaea (Dipt., Cecidomyiidae)
René Camenzind1, Dirk Frederik Went1
1Department of Entomology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Oogenesis of egg follicles in paedogenetic reproduction of the gall midgeHeteropeza pygmaea is accompanied by a relatively slight growth of the oocyte. Egg growth takes place mainly during embryonic development. The nurse chamber in the egg follicle degenerates only at the beginning of embryogenesis. When ovaries of the female larvae are cultured in vitro under male-determining conditions, the ovaries produce mostly male-determined egg follicles. These follicles show nurse chamber degeneration and they grow to about the size of an egg in late cleavage division or blastoderm stage developing in situ, but cytological development invariably stops at the first or second meiotic division. Thus, growth and cytological development in such follicles are uncoupled. The presence of a meiotic block in paedogenetically developing follicles ofH. pygmaea gives a clue to the mode of evolution of paedogenetic reproduction.
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