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Cracking open cell death in the Drosophila ovary

  • Apoptosis in Drosophila
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Abstract

The Drosophila melanogaster ovary is a powerful yet simple system with only a few cell types. Cell death in the ovary can be induced in response to multiple developmental and environmental signals. These cell deaths occur at distinct stages of oogenesis and involve unique mechanisms utilizing apoptotic, autophagic and perhaps necrotic processes. In this review, we summarize recent progress characterizing cell death mechanisms in the fly ovary.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jeanne Peterson and Christy Li for comments on the manuscript, and Horacio Frydman and members of our lab for helpful discussions. Supported by NIH grant R01 GM60574 (KM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington St., Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Tracy L. Pritchett & Kimberly McCall

  2. Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington St., Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Elizabeth A. Tanner

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  1. Tracy L. Pritchett
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  2. Elizabeth A. Tanner
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Correspondence to Kimberly McCall.

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Pritchett, T.L., Tanner, E.A. & McCall, K. Cracking open cell death in the Drosophila ovary. Apoptosis 14, 969–979 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10495-009-0369-z

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