Rockefeller University researchers have discovered a new organelle inside the gut cells of the fruit fly — a surprise discovery, staring us in the face, in one of the most well-studied animals in all of science.
The new organelle stockpiles phosphate, an electrolyte essential to life. When faced with a shortage, it releases its reservoir in the form of phospholipids, which are a key component of the membrane structure of cells.
“This is one of the first studies to actually find phosphate storage in an animal cell,” Rebekka Wild told Nature’s Gemma Conroy. A structural biologist at French state research organization the Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Wild was not involved with the study.
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