| Abstract |
The investigation of gene expression patterns plays a key role in Drosophila developmental research. Previous techniques such as in situ hybridization and microarray time course analysis are nowadays supplemented by advanced 4d imaging techniques, offering unprecedented possibilities to visualize organisms and allow the collection of systematic image data characterizing gene expression on a large scale. A prominent representative of those techniques is Selective Plane Illumination Microscopy (SPIM), which combines the advantages of fluorescence stereomicroscopy and high-resolution imaging of optical sections in a unique in vivo imaging system.
This work utilizes SPIM to collect in toto time-lapse datasets of the formation of prominent gene expression patterns during D. melanogaster embryogenesis. Several parameters of acquisition and sample preparation were optimized to improve the microscope performance as well as the viability of the imaged flies. An approach for the registration of individual SPIM datasets in space and time based on Pearson’s correlation will be presented. This interspecimen registration allows to align time-lapse data in a fast and reliable way.
The approach may be used to investigate gene regulatory networks which facilitate the
maturation of a single cell to a complex organism. |