Germ plasm in developing oocytes of vertebrates is localized into a special membrane-less structure called Balbiani body (Bb). Bb is packed with RNAs, mitochondria, Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum. Bb in Xenopus is termed mitochondrial cloud (Further detail: 31155356, 9563905, 25413788, 27736303).
Formation, Composition & dynamics (Assembly and disassembly)
Relation to human diseases
Proteome
References
Jamieson-Lucy A, Mullins MC. The vertebrate Balbiani body, germ plasm, and oocyte polarity. Curr Top Dev Biol. 2019;135:1-34. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2019.04.003. Epub 2019 May 3. PMID: 31155356.
Ikenishi K. Germ plasm in Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila and Xenopus. Dev Growth Differ. 1998 Feb;40(1):1-10. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-169x.1998.t01-4-00001.x. PMID: 9563905.
Dosch R. Next generation mothers: Maternal control of germline development in zebrafish. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2015 Jan-Feb;50(1):54-68. doi: 10.3109/10409238.2014.985816. Epub 2014 Nov 21. PMID: 25413788.
Boke E, Mitchison TJ. The balbiani body and the concept of physiological amyloids. Cell Cycle. 2017 Jan 17;16(2):153-154. doi: 10.1080/15384101.2016.1241605. Epub 2016 Oct 13. PMID: 27736303; PMCID: PMC5283817.