Terminal filament cell organization in the larval ovary of Drosophila melanogaster: ultrastructural observations and pattern of divisions

The extraction of lipids from tissues during fixation and embedding for electron microscopy is widely recognized as a source of possible artifact, especially at the membrane level of cell organization. Lipid extraction is also a major disadvantage in electron microscope autoradiography of radioactive lipids, as in studies of the uptake of radioactive fatty acids by intestinal slices. Retention of lipids by fixation with osmium tetroxide is generally limited to glycolipids, phospholipids and highly unsaturated neutral lipids. Saturated neutral lipids and sterols tend to be easily extracted by organic dehydrating reagents prior to embedding. Retention of the more saturated lipids in embedded tissue might be achieved by developing new cross-linking reagents, by the use of highly water soluble embedding materials or by working at very low temperatures.

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Three-dimensional image analysis and visualization in confocal light microscopy

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100146631 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 51 ◽

pp. 158-159

Author(s):

J. K. Samarabandu ◽

R. Acharya ◽

D. R. Pareddy ◽

P. C. Cheng

Keyword(s):

Depth Perception ◽

Computer Graphic ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Cellular Organization ◽

Data Set ◽

Computational Burden ◽

Interactive Operation ◽

Cell Organization ◽

Confocal Images ◽

3D Digitization

In the study of cell organization in a maize meristem, direct viewing of confocal optical sections in 3D (by means of 3D projection of the volumetric data set, Figure 1) becomes very difficult and confusing because of the large number of nucleus involved. Numerical description of the cellular organization (e.g. position, size and orientation of each structure) and computer graphic presentation are some of the solutions to effectively study the structure of such a complex system. An attempt at data-reduction by means of manually contouring cell nucleus in 3D was reported (Summers et al., 1990). Apart from being labour intensive, this 3D digitization technique suffers from the inaccuracies of manual 3D tracing related to the depth perception of the operator. However, it does demonstrate that reducing stack of confocal images to a 3D graphic representation helps to visualize and analyze complex tissues (Figure 2). This procedure also significantly reduce computational burden in an interactive operation.

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Live Confocal Analysis of Fertilization and Early Development

Microscopy and Microanalysis ◽

10.1017/s1431927600031135 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 7 (S2) ◽

pp. 1012-1013

Author(s):

Uyen Tram ◽

William Sullivan

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Embryonic Development ◽

Real Time ◽

Early Development ◽

Fluorescent Probes ◽

Primary Defect ◽

Fluorescent Analysis ◽

Dynamic Event ◽

Enormous Amount ◽

Fluorescent Studies

Embryonic development is a dynamic event and is best studied in live animals in real time. Much of our knowledge of the early events of embryogenesis, however, comes from immunofluourescent analysis of fixed embryos. While these studies provide an enormous amount of information about the organization of different structures during development, they can give only a static glimpse of a very dynamic event. More recently real-time fluorescent studies of living embryos have become much more routine and have given new insights to how different structures and organelles (chromosomes, centrosomes, cytoskeleton, etc.) are coordinately regulated. This is in large part due to the development of commercially available fluorescent probes, GFP technology, and newly developed sensitive fluorescent microscopes. For example, live confocal fluorescent analysis proved essential in determining the primary defect in mutations that disrupt early nuclear divisions in Drosophila melanogaster. For organisms in which GPF transgenics is not available, fluorescent probes that label DNA, microtubules, and actin are available for microinjection.

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Apoptosis and development

Essays in Biochemistry ◽

10.1042/bse0390011 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 39 ◽

pp. 11-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Justin V McCarthy

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Mammalian Cells ◽

Cell Number ◽

Model Organisms ◽

Biological Processes ◽

Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽

Apoptotic Pathway ◽

Genetic Pathways ◽

Evolutionarily Conserved ◽

Multicellular Organisms

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved process used by multicellular organisms to developmentally regulate cell number or to eliminate cells that are potentially detrimental to the organism. The large diversity of regulators of apoptosis in mammalian cells and their numerous interactions complicate the analysis of their individual functions, particularly in development. The remarkable conservation of apoptotic mechanisms across species has allowed the genetic pathways of apoptosis determined in lower species, such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster, to act as models for understanding the biology of apoptosis in mammalian cells. Though many components of the apoptotic pathway are conserved between species, the use of additional model organisms has revealed several important differences and supports the use of model organisms in deciphering complex biological processes such as apoptosis.

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Insights into amyloid disease from fly models

Essays in Biochemistry ◽

10.1042/bse0560069 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 56 ◽

pp. 69-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ko-Fan Chen ◽

Damian C. Crowther

Keyword(s):

Drosophila Melanogaster ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorders ◽

Amyloid Β ◽

Amyloid Β Peptide ◽

Disease Pathogenesis ◽

Amyloid Aggregates ◽

Aβ Amyloid ◽

Polypeptide Chains ◽

Amyloid Diseases

The formation of amyloid aggregates is a feature of most, if not all, polypeptide chains. In vivo modelling of this process has been undertaken in the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster with remarkable success. Models of both neurological and systemic amyloid diseases have been generated and have informed our understanding of disease pathogenesis in two main ways. First, the toxic amyloid species have been at least partially characterized, for example in the case of the Aβ (amyloid β-peptide) associated with Alzheimer's disease. Secondly, the genetic underpinning of model disease-linked phenotypes has been characterized for a number of neurodegenerative disorders. The current challenge is to integrate our understanding of disease-linked processes in the fly with our growing knowledge of human disease, for the benefit of patients.

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