KARYOSPHERE CAPSULE IN <i>TRIBOLIUM CASTANEUM </i>OOCYTES
Structure and composition of the karyosphere (karyosome) capsule were studied in the oocytes of a laboratory insect, <i>Tribolium castaneum,</i> with the use of electron microscopy and immunoelectron cytochemistry. Basing on the study of nuclear structure dynamics, we distinguished 8 stages that characterize the period of oocyte growth. At the diplotene stage, <i>T. castaneum</i> oocyte chromosomes conjoin early into a compact karyosphere, but a significant chromatin condensation does not occur. The process of karyosphere formation is accompanied by the development of an extensive extrachromosome capsule surrounding chromatin. The capsule consists of a material of different morphological types. Significant molecular components of the <i>T. castaneum</i> karyosphere capsule are represented by the proteins of nuclear matrix including F-actin and lamin B. Besides the structural proteins, the Sm proteins of small nuclear (sn) RNPs and mature 2,2,7-trimethyl guanosine (TMG) 5'-capped snRNAs are revealed immunocytochemically in the karyosphere capsule. The obtained data can form a basis for further expansion of ideas on the functions of the karyosphere capsule as a specialized extrachromosomal nuclear domain of the oocytes. We believe that the <i>T. castaneum</i> karyosphere capsule plays not only a structural role, but may be involved directly in the processes related to gene expression.