Date of Award:

5-1977

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Biology

Committee Chair(s)

Hugh P. Stanley

Committee

Hugh P. Stanley

Committee

LeGrande C. Ellis

Committee

James T. Bowman

Abstract

Mutant ms(l)6S of Drosophila melanogaster is characterized by a spectrum of abnormalities of spermatid differentiation. Included in these are failure of the basal body to make normal attachment to the nucleus, failure of acrosomes to develop, and lack of a normal pupulation of perinuclear microtubules. There is also a failure of normal chromatin condensation and nuclear elongation. The mitochondria do not form a normaI nebenkern, but nevertheless fuse, elongate, and develop paracrystalline bodies. The number of normal axonemes is markedly reduced as a result of the failure of some centrioles to form basal bodies. All of these aberrations can be related to defective interactions of the "centrosome" or "microtubule-organizing-centre" with other organelles. The analysis of spermiogenesis in this mutant further clarifies the roles of microtubules in nuclear condensation and elongation and in ceIlular elongation in generaI.

Checksum

1f5870d7ad360e6f88a6fee52bea052c

Included in

Biology Commons

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