The developing Drosophila eye - a new model to study centriole reduction

In the developing Drosophila eye, the centrioles of the differentiating retinal cells are not surrounded by the microtubule-nucleating γ-tubulin, suggesting that they are unable to organize functional microtubule-organizing centers. Consistent with this idea, Cnn and Spd-2, which are involved in γ-tubulin recruitment, and the scaffold protein Plp, which plays a role in the organization of the pericentriolar material, are lost in the third-instar larval stage. However, the centrioles maintain their structural integrity, and both the parent centrioles accumulate Asl and Ana1. Although the loading of Asl points to the acquisition of the motherhood condition, the daughter centrioles fail to recruit Plk4 and do not duplicate. However, it is surprising that the mother centrioles that accumulate Plk4 also never duplicate. This suggests that the loading of Plk4 is not sufficient, in this system, to allow centriole duplication. By halfway through pupal life, the centriole number decreases and structural defects, ranging from being incomplete or lacking B-tubules, are detected. Asl, Ana1 and Sas-4 are still present, suggesting that the centriole integrity does not depend on these proteins.