Live confocal analysis of mutant- and drug-treated Drosophila embryos

The model organism Drosophila melanogaster is particularly well suited for live image analysis. The availability of GFP transgenic flies and a wide array of fluorescent probes, in conjunction with laser scanning confocal microscopy, allow us to image multiple aspects of the cell cycle simultaneously. Confocal microscopy provides the sensitivity and resolution to observe the dynamics of specific cellular events in real time. For example, GFP-histone and rhodamine-labeled tubulin enable one to follow specific nuclear and cytoskeletal events including nuclear envelope formation, nuclear envelope breakdown, spindle formation, centrosome duplication, separation and migration, chromosomes condensation, and segregation. This analysis permits a detailed morphological and temporal description of nuclear and cytoskeletal events in normal or drug-injected embryos.