Jagunal is required for reorganizing the endoplasmic reticulum during Drosophila oogenesis

Vesicular traffic in the Drosophila melanogaster oocyte occurs actively during vitellogenesis. Although endocytosis in the oocyte has been well characterized, exocytic vesicular traffic is less well understood. We show that the oocyte endoplasmic reticulum (ER) becomes concentrated into subcortical clusters during vitellogenesis. This ER reorganization requires Jagunal, which is an evolutionarily conserved ER membrane protein. Loss of Jagunal reduces vesicular traffic to the oocyte lateral membrane, but does not affect posterior polarized vesicular traffic, suggesting a role for Jagunal in facilitating vesicular traffic in the subcortex. Reduced membrane traffic caused by loss of Jagunal affects oocyte and bristle growth. We propose that ER reorganization is an important mechanism used by cells to prepare for an increased demand for membrane traffic, and Jagunal facilitates this process through ER clustering.