Lazaro, Anna Nicole B.

4Bio2
Gametogenesis of Drosophila melanogaster
Drosophila melanogaster
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Also known as the fruit fly

Belongs to the dipteran class of holometabola endopterygota insects
Shorter life cycle
Consist of 3 parts head, thorax, abdomen

Spermatogenesis
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Starts during the embryonic development

Takes place during the whole duration of the life of the adult male fly
Process:
o Spermatogonia become surrounded by mesodermal cells to form a
spermatocyst. It undergoes 4 mitotic divisions succeeded by meiosis to produce
64 spermatids. The spermatids will mature to become sperm cells. These sperm
cells are then stored in the pair of seminal vesicles.
The sperm cells of the fruit fly are 58 mm long which is 20 times longer than the animal
and is 15000 times longer than the human sperm.

Oogenesis
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Sensitive developmental stage

Starts at pupation
Occurs in the ovary (2 ovaries with 18 ovarioles)
Process is divided into 14 stages based on morphology
o Stages 1 7 provitellogenic or preyolk
Formation of the 16 celled cyst
Differentitation of the oocyte
Increase in the size of both egg and the follicle cells
o Stages 8 10 vitellogenic
Increase in the size of the egg
Formation of the vitellins or yolk proteins
Produced by 3 initial proteins called vitellogenins
Absorbed by the oocyte through pinocytosis
First appears, 9 h after the adult ecdysis
Production of the vitellin membrane
o Stage 11 14 post vitellogenic or choriogenic
Further growth of the egg-chamber
Egg increases even more in size
Nurse cells decrease in size
o Remnants are engulfed and absorbed by phagocytosis by
the adjacent follicle and epithelial cells
Formation of the chorion
Further development of the egg