Possible involvement of cytoskeletal organelles in blastoderm formation of the silkworm, Bombyx mori

Summary

In this work we have studied the possibility that cytoskeletal systems are involved in energid migration and blastoderm formation of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. The results obtained suggest: (1) energid migration is mainly controlled by microtubules and perhaps secondarily by microfilaments, (2) morphological changes of microprojections covering the egg surface are regulated by microfilaments and (3) the changes of microprojections are independent of energid migration.

Keywords:

• blastoderm
• silkworm
• microtubule
• microfilament