Authors:
Fernando R Balestra, Lukas von Tobel, and Pierre Gönczy
First Paragraph of Letter to the Editor :
The two gametes make different contributions to the zygote at fertilization. Although both gametes contribute genetic material, in most animal species the oocyte donates the bulk of cytoplasmic constituents and cellular organelles, including mitochondria, whereas the sperm donates two centrioles. Centrioles are microtubule-based organelles that serve as templates for the axoneme of cilia and flagella across eukaryotic evolution, and as platforms for centrosome assembly in most animal cells. How long the two centrioles contributed by the sperm persist in the developing embryo is not known in any system. More generally, although centrioles are reputed to be stable structures, the extent to which their constituents persist over several cell cycles has been scarcely studied. Two instances of centriolar components being stable for one (α/β tubulin in mammalian cells) or two (SAS-4 in C. elegans) cell cycles have been reported, but whether these and other centriolar components remain stable for more cell cycles is not known.
Source:
Cell Research; 25, 642-644 (04/24/15)