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D Carré

Publications and source records attributed to D Carré.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Characteristics of pronuclear migration in Beroe ovata.

In the large eggs (approximately 1 mm) of the ctenophore Beroe ovata, female pronuclei migrate long distances to join stationary male pronuclei in the peripheral cytoplasm that surrounds the yolky interior. We have investigated the mechanism of nuclear migration using time lapse video recording, automated image analysis, visualization of microtubules by immunofluorescence and rhodamine-tubulin injection, and electron microscopy. Female pronuclei migrated at average speeds of 0.2 microns/sec, and were found to show periodic oscillations in velocity. Alternating phases of acceleration and deceleration occurred with an average periodicity of 235 seconds covering distances of 47 microns (about 3 times the nuclear diameter). Migration velocities and velocity oscillations were similar in fertilized and unfertilized eggs; however, changes in migration direction were much more frequent in unfertilized eggs. Characteristic deformations of the pronuclear membrane and occasional rotation of the nuclear contents were observed during migration. Inhibitor studies indicated that microtubules are required for nuclear migration. In fertilized eggs the top of the nucleus was found to move through the dense layer of aligned sperm aster microtubules. The frequent changes in direction of pronuclear migration in unfertilized eggs reflect the random organization of the microtubule layer in the absence of sperm derived centrosomes. Densely packed endoplasmic reticulum was found intermeshed with sperm aster microtubules and connected extensively with the nuclear membrane during migration. Most nuclear pores were grouped in an infolding of the nuclear membrane. We suggest that in fertilized eggs the female pronucleus is transported to the minus ends of sperm aster microtubules using motor molecules attached either to the outer nuclear membrane and/or to the network of connecting ER.

Animals↗
PubMed1991

In vitro fertilization in ctenophores: sperm entry, mitosis, and the establishment of bilateral symmetry in Beroe ovata.

We have found ways to control in vitro fertilization in a ctenophore (Beroe ovata) for the first time. This is based on the existence of a partial block to self-fertilization at the time of gamete release which can be overcome by removal of the egg envelope. It has allowed us to exploit the excellent optical properties of Beroe eggs to make detailed observations on all events from sperm penetration or penetrations in these physiologically polyspermic eggs to first cleavage, and to extend our initial observations (Carré and Sardet, 1984). Sperm entry is characterized by local modifications of the egg cortex in a 70-microns zone around the penetration site or sites. Upon sperm entry, the egg surface contracts and relaxes locally, then a fertilization cone forms and disappears. These events are accompanied by localized exocytosis, growth of a ring of microvilli, thickening of the egg cortex, and gathering of mitochondria around the sperm pronuclei. The female pronucleus then migrates beneath the egg surface toward one or successive sperm pronuclei. The fusion of pronuclei, sperm and egg chromatin intermixing, and mitosis were also observed with exceptional clarity. Furthermore, we have noticed that the direction of the last trajectory of the female pronucleus tends to define the orientation of the mitotic spindle, and as a consequence the position of first unipolar cleavage furrow. This in turn determines the future sagittal plane of the embryo and of the adult B. ovata.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Fertilization and early development in Beroe ovata.

Fertilization in the clear egg (1 mm in diameter) of the ctenophore Beroe ovata and, in particular, the positioning and movements of pronuclei, and their relationship to the larval oral-aboral axis have been observed. Fertilization can take place anywhere on the egg surface. The sperm pronucleus remains at its entry site and becomes surrounded by a specialized zone (30-50 micron in diameter) beneath the surface referred to as the sperm pronuclear zone or SPZ and devoid of large cortical granules. Polyspermy has been observed to be frequent; each pronucleus is surrounded by its own SPZ. Only the egg pronucleus migrates with a continuous velocity (averaging 18 micron/min) and moves beneath the surface directly toward the immobile sperm pronucleus. In polyspermic eggs, the egg pronucleus can probe several SPZ, each containing a single sperm nucleus, before it finally enters one SPZ and fuses with the chosen sperm pronucleus. These migrations of the egg pronucleus occur over several millimeters and take hours, but the mechanism underlying the motion or how the egg pronucleus decides which SPZ to enter is not yet known. Under our experimental conditions the mitotic apparatus and the first cleavage plane which defines the oral-aboral axis of the larva (see Reverberi (1971). "Experimental Embryology of Marine and Fresh-Water Invertebrates." North-Holland, Amsterdam. for review) pass through the point of sperm entry. During fertilization and cleavage, movements of a cortical autofluorescent material are clearly seen. This material is segregated into micromeres as cleavage progresses.

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Sperm chemotaxis in siphonophores. II. Calcium-dependent asymmetrical movement of spermatozoa induced by the attractant.

Spermatozoa from siphonophores have been shown to be attracted towards an extracellular structure, the cupule, which covers the predetermined site of fertilization of the egg. Observations on sperm behaviour during the chemotactic response show that spermatozoa describe trajectories of large diameter (700-1000 micron) while far from the cupule, and of smaller diameter (200 micron) in the cupule area. The transition between the two types of swimming occurs progressively when spermatozoa cross a 3 mm wide area around the cupule. After a few minutes 99% of the spermatozoa keep swimming around the attractant source, following circular paths 150-200 micron in diameter. In the absence of the attractant, comparable modifications of sperm trajectories are observed in the presence of the ionophore A23187 and high calcium concentrations. In the presence of 10(-2) M calcium ions, A23187-treated spermatozoa describe trajectories 200 micron in diameter, which increase up to 800 micron at lower calcium concentrations (10(-6) M). In the absence of calcium ions, spermatozoa swim across the cupule area without modification of their trajectories and no sperm accumulation can be detected. This requirement of the chemotactic response for calcium ions is observed either with fresh cupules stuck on the eggs, with cupules separated from the eggs, or with cupule extracts. Moreover, a soluble component fractionated from the cupule induces, when diluted in sea water, a reduction in the size of the sperm trajectories and this also requires calcium ions. The present data show that the chemotactic response of siphonophore sperm, which requires millimolar concentrations of calcium ions, occurs through a non-transient induction of increased asymmetry of the flagellar waveform. It is proposed that the natural attractant operates to produce an increase in the intraaxonemal calcium concentration.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

[Hypothesis on the mechanism of cnidocyst discharge (author's transl)].

The geometic aspects of the cnidocystic filament before invagination, during invagination and after the process of evagination are shown. Experiments are described that allow an approach to study the mechanism of discharge. It is suggested here that the filament is an elastic tube which, when it is intracapsular, is folded and spiraled and thus, under a constraining action. Evagination then consists simply in the release of the constraining force and reversion of the filament to the primitive cylindric shape. The presence of water seems indispensable to the process to take place; however this does not necessarily imply that a hydratation take place in the filament wall. It also seems obvious that if expansion is a normal tendency of the constrained filament, eversion is a result of the continuity between the wall of the filament and that of the capsule. In conclusion, the invagination of the tube during cnidogenesis may be interpreted as a mean of storing energy for the evagination.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Biochemical and electron microscopic characterization of DNA-RNA complexes from HeLa cell mitochondria.

The previous electron microscopic investigations on the occurrence in HeLa cell mitochondria of transcription complexes of mitochondrial DNA [Aloni, Y., and Attardi, G. (1972a), J. Mol. Biol. 70, 363-373] have been extended with the aim of obtaining these complexes in a reasonably pure form for biochemical analysis. By using conditions designed to minimize losses of such structures and any possible contamination by nuclear DNA, it has been shown that a substantial fraction (40 to 50%) of mitochondrial DNA can be isolated from exponentially growing HeLa cells in the form of fastsedimenting complexes with RNA. These complexes have been characterized with respect to density and sedimentation properties, content in newly synthesized RNA, stability of the association of RNA with DNA, presence of different forms of mitochondrial DNA, and electron microscopic appearance. The properties of these complexes, as well as the results of reconstruction experiments, strongly suggest that the majority of such structures represent true transcriptional intermediates. The occurrence in this fraction of replicating or newly replicated mitochondrial DNA molecules has been observed. Although the presence of single-stranded DNA segments makes the replicative intermediates particularly susceptible to aggregation with free RNA, electron microscopic observations point to the possibility that these intermediates may be recruited for transcription.

DNA, Mitochondrial↗
PubMed1975

tRNA nucleotidyltransferase-catalyzed incorporation of CMP and AMP into RNA-bacteriophage genome fragments.

Fragments of bacteriophage RNAs R17, MS2 and Qbeta obtained by incubation with commercial snake venom phosphodiesterase become substrates of the Escherichia coli tRNA nucleotidyltransferase. The transferase adds back CMP and AMP in conditions in which it remains highly specific of CCA-deprived tRNAs. The results suggest that the fragment from the 3' end of the viral genome and/or possibly one or more internal fragment(s) are recognized by the transferase. These observations might indicate that bacteriophage RNAs contain certain features probably present in all tRNAs and which are recognized by the transferase.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗