Abstract
The features of rDNA amplification have been studied in oocytes of the red-eared slider Trachemys scripta using a number of specific histochemical and cytomolecular methods. A single nucleolus in early diplotene oocytes is associated with the nucleolus organizer region (NOR). With oocyte growth, the number of nucleoli increases dramatically and reaches hundreds by the lampbrush chromosome stage (pre-vitellogenesis). RNA-polymerase I, fibrillarin, and PCNA immunodetection in the amplified nucleoli and FISH of the 5’ETS probe to the oocyte nuclear content suggest pre-rRNA and rDNA synthesis in the nucleoli at all stages studied. This implies a continuous reproduction of the nucleoli during oocyte development from early diplotene up to vitellogenesis. The data obtained offer a different way for rDNA amplification and formation of extrachromosomal nucleoli in turtle oocytes compared with the amplified nucleoli formation in amphibian and fish oocytes. In the Sauropsida clade of Archelosauria, which includes turtles, crocodiles, and birds, rDNA function is known to be suppressed in avian oogenesis during the lampbrush stage (Gaginskaya et al. in Cytogenet Genome Res 124:251–267, 2009).
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Acknowledgments
We are sincerely grateful to J. Gall for kindly providing R288 serum against p80, to S. Deryusheva for anti-FLASH antibodies, D. Bogolyubov and G. Pochukalina for the anti-RNA-polymerase I and dsDNA antibodies, S. Naryzhny and E. Novikova for anti-PCNA antibodies, I. Aparin for U3 snoRNA probe, and to Alisa Guseva for the linguistic review and proofreading of the manuscript. The analytical facilities were provided by “Chromas” Resource Center of the Saint Petersburg State University Scientific Park.
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This study was sponsored by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project #18-04-01276A) and Saint Petersburg State University’s Initiative 4 (project #1.40.1625.2017).
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Davidian, A., Koshel, E., Dyomin, A. et al. On some structural and evolutionary aspects of rDNA amplification in oogenesis of Trachemys scripta turtles. Cell Tissue Res 383, 853–864 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-020-03282-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-020-03282-x