Date of Award

Summer 7-11-2024

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MS Biology

Department

Biology

Advisor

Angela Klaus, PhD

Committee Member

Daniel Nichols, PhD

Committee Member

TinChun Chu, PhD

Keywords

Drosophila melanogaster, Fusome patterning, spermatogenesis, Drosophila pseudoobscura

Abstract

This study uses five different species across the family of Drosophila as a tool to compare the structures of the stem cell niche and fusome within the testes of these species. Three species from Drosophila melanogaster group, D. melanogaster, D. simulans and D. sechellia, and two species from D. obscura group, D. pseudoobscura and D. affinis were observed using confocal microscopy In addition to a general comparison of male reproductive system structure and anatomy, the species were also analyzed for the presence of Fasciclin-III and α-Spectrin. As expected, species from the D. melanogaster group had the same expression pattern for Fasciclin III and α-Spectrin. Species of the obscura group also exhibited the characteristic morphology for the apical complex and fusomes. Interestingly, the testes of D. affinis exhibited the melanogaster group coiled testicular morphology, but the obscura group pattern for the apical complex. We also detected a novel actin structure (which we are calling the “actin cage”) in the apical end of D. sechellia and D. simulans, but not D. melanogaster, that appears to overlap with the hub in the apical testis. The actin cage was not detected in D. affinis or D. pseudoobscura. This work represents the first analysis of testis structures in species other than D. melanogaster.

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