DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR THE NATURE OF THE BINDING OF MITOCHONDRIA TO MICROTUBULES IN OVARIAN NUTRITIVE TUBES OF AN HEMIPTERAN INSECT

Interactions between mitochondria and microtubules have been investiga ted in the nutritive tubes that link the nurse cells to the oocytes in ovarioles of the hemipteran insect, Notonecta. The nutritive tubes co mprise large numbers of microtubules, which can be dissected manually from ovarioles. This approach, which retains the intrinsic components of the system, has allowed the in vivo interactions between the microt ubules and mitochondria, which are also present in the nutritive tubes , to be studied directly. Static binding occurred between mitochondria and microtubules, and investigations of its nucleotide and salt-sensi tivities have indicated its microtubule-associated protein (MAP)-depen dency.