Differential distributions of two adducin-like protein isoforms in the Drosophila ovary and early embryo.

Adducin is a cytoskeletal protein that can function in vitro to bundle F-actin and to control the assembly of the F-actin/spectrin cytoskeletal network. The Drosophila Adducin-like (Add) locus (also referred to as hu-li tai shao (hts)) encodes a family of proteins of which several are homologous to mammalian adducin (Ding et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 2512-16, 1993; Yue & Spradling, Genes Dev. 6, 2443-54, 1992). We report the identification of two novel adducin isoforms: a 95 x 10(3) Mr form (ADD-95) and an 87 x 10(3) Mr form (ADD-87). We present a detailed analysis of the distribution patterns of ADD-95 and ADD-87 during oogenesis and embryogenesis. The isoforms are co-expressed in several cell- and tissue-types; however, only ADD-87 is present in mid- to late-stage oocytes. ADD-87 is present throughout the oocyte cortex at stages 9 and 10 of oogenesis but is detectable only at the anterior pole from stage 11 onward, correlated with localisation of Add-hts mRNA first to the cortex and then to the anterior pole of the oocyte. ADD-87 co-localises with F-actin and spectrin in the cortex of the oocyte through stage 10 of oogenesis, consistent with a possible role in cytoskeletal assembly or function predicted by mammalian studies.