Centrosome splitting during nuclear elongation in the Drosophila embryo

In the early Drosophila embryo, nuclear elongation occurs during cellularization of the syncytial blastoderm. This process is closely related to the presence of microtubular bundles forming a basket-like structure surrounding the nuclei. In immunofluorescence observations with antibodies against alpha-tubulin, the microtubules appear to radiate from two bright foci widely separated from each other. We used electron microscopy to show that these foci are true centrosomes constituted by daughter and parent centrioles orthogonally disposed and surrounded by pericentriolar electrondense material. The centrosomes may be observed in the apical region of the blastoderm cells from the beginning of cellularization until the reestablishment of the first postblastodermic mitosis, when they organize the spindle poles. Until this time the dimensions of the procentrioles remain unchanged. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the known behavior of centrioles in the cell cycle.