In search of micropylesWhen I arrived at the University of Lincoln in 2015, I started a project on a topic I had not worked on before: micropyles. These intriguing structures found on insect eggs (but analogous structures are also found in ovules of seeds in plants and on the eggs of fishes, among other organisms), are the point of sperm entry. Literally micropyle (from the Greek mikro- pule) means small gate: what a wonderful word!
My model species was the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, which proved rather difficult because of the size of its eggs, about half a millimetre long, or about the size of a dot on this page! It followed a year and a half of trying to image Plodia's micropyles with a variety of imaging techniques, to no avail. Recently, however, I have started collaborating with Professor Johanna Mappes on her model species, the wood tiger moth, Arctia plantaginis, an aposematic moth with larger eggs. Thanks to new Alicona 3D imaging microscope, just installed at our department, Sarah Aldridge (also a new collaborator) has captured this amazing image of a micropylar plate on A. plantaginis. Enjoy.
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AuthorGraziella Iossa Archives
August 2023
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