TC003132 is essential for the follicle stem cell lineage in telotrophic Tribolium oogenesis
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RESEARCH
Open Access
TC003132 is essential for the follicle stem cell lineage in telotrophic Tribolium oogenesis Matthias Teuscher1, Nadi Ströhlein1, Markus Birkenbach1, Dorothea Schultheis2 and Michael Schoppmeier1*
Abstract Background: Stem cells are undifferentiated cells with a potential for self-renewal, which are essential to support normal development and homeostasis. To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying adult stem cell biology and organ evolution, we use the telotrophic ovary of the beetle Tribolium. To this end, we participated in a large-scale RNAi screen in the red flour beetle Tribolium, which identified functions in embryonic and postembryonic development for more than half of the Tribolium genes. Results: We identified TC003132 as candidate gene for the follicle stem cell linage in telotrophic Tribolium oogenesis. TC003132 belongs to the Casein Kinase 2 substrate family (CK2S), which in humans is associated with the proliferative activity of different cancers. Upon TC003132 RNAi, central pre-follicular cells are lost, which results in termination of oogenesis. Given that also Notch-signalling is required to promote the mitotic activity of central pre-follicular cells, we performed epistasis experiments with Notch and cut. In addition, we identified a putative follicle stem cell population by monitoring the mitotic pattern of wild type and TC003132 depleted follicle cells by EdU incorporations. In TC003132 RNAi these putative FSCs cease the expression of differentiation makers and are eventually lost. Conclusions: TC003132 depleted pre-follicular cells neither react to mitosis or endocycle stimulating signals, suggesting that TC003132 provides competence for differentiation cues. This may resemble the situation in C. elegans were CK2 is required to maintain the balance between proliferation and differentiation in the germ line. Since the earliest effect of TC003132 RNAi is characterized by the loss of putative FSCs, we posit that TC003132 crucially contributes to the proliferation or maintenance of follicle stem cells in the telotrophic Tribolium ovary. Keywords: Tribolium, telotrophic oogenesis, follicle stem cells, Notch-signalling, large-scale RNAi screen, iBeetle
Background In Drosophila, germline and follicle stem cells work in a coordinated fashion to produce egg chambers [1, 2]. Two to three germline stem cells (GSC) reside at the anterior tip of the germarium and divide asymmetrically to give rise to a cystoblast, which undergoes four mitotic divisions with incomplete cytokinesis to form an interconnected 16-cell cluster. One of these 16 cells is specified as an oocyte and the other cells differentiate into polyploid nurse cells that support the growth of the * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department Biology, Developmental Biology Unit, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Staudtstr. 5, 91058 Erlangen, Germany Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
oocyte. These clusters are engulfed in the germarium by strom
