Abstract
The oocytes of many organisms, including frogs and fish, contain a distinct cytoplasmic organelle called the Balbiani body. Because of the scarcity of published information and the tremendous variability in the appearance, ultrastructure, and composition of Balbiani bodies between species, the function of the Balbiani body and its inter-species homology remain a mystery. In Xenopus laevis, the Balbiani body is known to play a role in transporting germ cell determinants and localized RNAs to the oocyte vegetal cortex. In fish, however, the molecular composition of the Balbiani body has not been studied to date, and its function remains completely unknown. We have studied the ultrastructure and molecular composition of previtellogenic oocytes of the sturgeon, Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, by using electron microscopy, in situ hybridization, and immunostaining. We have found that sturgeon oocytes contain two distinct zones of cytoplasm: homogeneous (organelle-free) and granular (organelle-rich). We have also found that the granular ooplasm, which we term the Balbiani cytoplasm, shares important homologies, in both ultrastructure and molecular composition, with Xenopus Balbiani bodies.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Prof. R. Kolman (Institute of Inland Fisheries, Olsztyn-Kortowo, Poland) who shared his passion and knowledge of sturgeons with us and who performed the ovarian biopsies, to the staff of the Institute of Ichthyology and Fisheries (Agricultural Academy, Krakow, Poland) for the specimens of Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, to Prof. E. Pyza (Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland) for electron microscopy facilities, and to Mrs. B. Szymanska, Mrs. W. Jankowska, and Mrs. E. Kisiel for technical assistance.
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This work was supported by funds from the research grant BW/IZ/2005 to M.Z.
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Zelazowska, M., Kilarski, W., Bilinski, S.M. et al. Balbiani cytoplasm in oocytes of a primitive fish, the sturgeon Acipenser gueldenstaedtii, and its potential homology to the Balbiani body (mitochondrial cloud) of Xenopus laevis oocytes. Cell Tissue Res 329, 137–145 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0403-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-007-0403-9