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Tissue Morphogenesis pp 79–97Cite as

Light Sheet-Based Imaging and Analysis of Early Embryogenesis in the Fruit Fly

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1189))

Abstract

The fruit fly is an excellent model system for investigating the sequence of epithelial tissue invaginations constituting the process of gastrulation. By combining recent advancements in light sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) and image processing, the three-dimensional fly embryo morphology and relevant gene expression patterns can be accurately recorded throughout the entire process of embryogenesis. LSFM provides exceptionally high imaging speed, high signal-to-noise ratio, low level of photoinduced damage, and good optical penetration depth. This powerful combination of capabilities makes LSFM particularly suitable for live imaging of the fly embryo.

The resulting high-information-content image data are subsequently processed to obtain the outlines of cells and cell nuclei, as well as the geometry of the whole embryo tissue by image segmentation. Furthermore, morphodynamics information is extracted by computationally tracking objects in the image. Towards that goal we describe the successful implementation of a fast fitting strategy of Gaussian mixture models.

The data obtained by image processing is well-suited for hypothesis testing of the detailed biomechanics of the gastrulating embryo. Typically this involves constructing computational mechanics models that consist of an objective function providing an estimate of strain energy for a given morphological configuration of the tissue, and a numerical minimization mechanism of this energy, achieved by varying morphological parameters.

In this chapter, we provide an overview of in vivo imaging of fruit fly embryos using LSFM, computational tools suitable for processing the resulting images, and examples of computational biomechanical simulations of fly embryo gastrulation.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus, 19700 Helix Drive, Ashburn, VA, 20147, USA

    Khaled Khairy, William C. Lemon, Fernando Amat & Philipp J. Keller Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Khaled Khairy
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  2. William C. Lemon
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  3. Fernando Amat
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  4. Philipp J. Keller Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philipp J. Keller Ph.D. .

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  1. Chemical & Biological Engineering, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA

    Celeste M. Nelson

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Khairy, K., Lemon, W.C., Amat, F., Keller, P.J. (2015). Light Sheet-Based Imaging and Analysis of Early Embryogenesis in the Fruit Fly. In: Nelson, C. (eds) Tissue Morphogenesis. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1189. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1164-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1164-6_6

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1163-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1164-6

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