made the first observation of centrosomes in 1883. In 1895, Theodor Boveri named the organelle a "centrosome". The pattern of centriole duplication was first worked out independently by Étienne de Harven and Joseph G. Gall c. 1950.
Centrioles are involved in the organization of the mitotic spindle and in the completion of cytokinesis. Centrioles were previously thought to be required for the formation of a mitotic spindle in animal cells. However, more recent experiments have demonstrated that cells whose centrioles have been removed via laser ablation can still progress through the G1 stage of interphase before centrioles can be synthesized later in a de novofashion. Additionally, mutant flies lacking centrioles develop normally, although the adult flies' cells lack flagella and cilia and as a result, they die shortly after birth. The centrioles can self replicate during cell division.
Cellular organization
Centrioles are a very important part of centrosomes, which are involved in organizing microtubules in the cytoplasm. The position of the centriole determines the position of the nucleus and plays a crucial role in the spatial arrangement of the cell.
Fertility
centrioles are important for 2 functions: to form the spermflagellum and sperm movement and for the development of the embryo after fertilization. The sperm supplies the centriole that creates the centrosome and microtubule system of the zygote.
Ciliogenesis
In flagellates and ciliates, the position of the flagellum or cilium is determined by the mother centriole, which becomes the basal body. An inability of cells to use centrioles to make functional flagella and cilia has been linked to a number of genetic and developmental diseases. In particular, the inability of centrioles to properly migrate prior to ciliary assembly has recently been linked to Meckel–Gruber syndrome.
Animal development
Proper orientation of cilia via centriole positioning toward the posterior of embryonic node cells is critical for establishing left–right asymmetry during mammalian development.
Centriole duplication
Before DNA replication, cells contain two centrioles, an older mother centriole, and a youngerdaughter centriole. During cell division, a new centriole grows at the proximal end of both mother and daughter centrioles. After duplication, the two centriole pairs will remain attached to each other orthogonally until mitosis. At that point the mother and daughter centrioles separate dependently on an enzyme called separase. The two centrioles in the centrosome are tied to one another. The mother centriole has radiating appendages at the distal end of its long axis and is attached to its daughter at the proximal end. Each daughter cell formed after cell division will inherit one of these pairs. Centrioles start duplicating when DNA replicates.
Origin
The last common ancestor of all eukaryotes was a ciliated cell with centrioles. Some lineages of eukaryotes, such as land plants, do not have centrioles except in their motile male gametes. Centrioles are completely absent from all cells of conifers and flowering plants, which do not have ciliate or flagellate gametes. It is unclear if the last common ancestor had one or two cilia. Important genes such as centrins required for centriole growth, are only found in eukaryotes, and not in bacteria or archaea.
The word centriole uses combining forms of centri- and , yielding "little central part", which describes a centriole's typical location near the center of the cell.
Atypical centrioles
Typical centrioles are made of 9 triplets of microtubules organized with radial symmetry. Centrioles can vary the number of microtubules and can be made of 9 doublets of microtubules or 9 singlets of microtubules as in C. elegans. Atypical centrioles are centrioles that do not have microtubules, such as the Proximal Centriole-Like found in D. melanogaster sperm, or that have microtubules with no radial symmetry, such as in the distal centriole of human spermatozoon.
