Morphologic and molecular manifestations of hybrid Dysgenesis in ontogenesis of Drosophila virilis

Disorders of germ track cell development that take place in crossbreeding of certain lines of Drosophila virilis and lead to hybrid dysgenesis (HD) syndrome have been studied. Polar cells and germ line cells were identified with specific antibodies against Vasa protein. It has been shown that abnormalities of formation of primary gonads takes place already at the 11-12 stage of embryo development and the consequences of germ line cell death lead to disorders of gonad development at the following stages of ontogenesis of dysgenic hybrids. The start point of germ line cell death in embryogenesis as well as initiation of transcription of Penelope retroelement, which is supposed to play a significant role in HD syndrome development in D. virilis, were estimated.