Microtubule organization and distribution of gamma-tubulin in male meiosis of lepidoptera

Meiotic spindles in males of higher Lepidotera are unusual in that the bulk of the spindle microtubules (MTs) ends about halfway between the equatorial plate and the centrosomes in metaphase. It appears worthwhile to determine how the MTs are nucleated, while their pole proximal ends are distant from the centrosomes. To this end, spermatocytes of Phragmatobia fuliginosa (Arctiidae), collected in the field, were double-labeled with antibodies to beta- and gamma-tubulin. The former antibody reveals the entire microtubular cytoskeleton, and the latter is directed against a newly-discovered tublin isoform that is prevalent in microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs). The immunocytochemical work was supplemented by a fine structural analysis of MTOCs and spindles. Gamma-tubulin was clearly detected at the spindle poles, and prominent microtubular asters originated from these sites. Additionally, MT arrays at both sides of the equatorial plate in metaphase spermatocytes contained gamma-tubulin. The staining persisted in late anaphase, when kinetochore MTs are depolymerized. This indicates that at least nonkinetochore MTs contain gamma tubulin. The analysis of ultrathin sections through spindles revealed large amounts of pericentriolar material at the spindles poles, in prometaphase through anaphase. The spindle MTs appeared as regular, straight elements in longitudinal sections. We assume that gamma-tubulin is located at the pole proximal ends of the MTs and/or is associated with the spindle MTs throughout their lengths. In order to distinguish between these possibilities, testes of Ephestia kuehniella (Pyralidae), a laboratory species, were cold-treated prior to double-labeling with antibodies to beta- and gamma-tubulin. The treatment was expected to depolymerize MTs. Astral MTs, which were nucleated end-on by gamma-tubulin-containing material, indeed depolymerized. In contrast, the gamma-tubulin-containing spindle MTs persisted. It is, therefore, conceivable that gamma-tubulin is associated with MTs throughout their lengths in male meiosis of Lepidoptera species. It is plausible that this association stabilizes the MTs against cold-induced disassembly.